


Midterms of Endearment

by missema



Series: Kirkwall Tech [21]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family Drama, Heart Attacks, Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Kirkwall Tech, Modern Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Old Friends, So much family bullshit, Spring Break, Starkhaven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-06-21 01:28:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15546591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missema/pseuds/missema
Summary: It's spring break, Sebastian Vael's favorite time to just get away and do nothing, a concept that Melissa Hawke isn't familiar with. Her life hasn't had many breaks in it, and Sebastian intends to take her away to a resort for one first and last epic spring break. Their plans are derailed even before they take off, and instead of white sand beaches they wind up somewhere else entirely.





	1. Chapter 1

The uniquely pungent scent of weed smoke and rapidly cooling fried food hit Sebastian as he came home late from campus. He was so hungry that his empty stomach had gone beyond feeling empty to hollow, and his headache was epic. The cold walk from his car had made him even more irritable, and he scowled as he stomped snow off his boots. More snow, as if this was Ferelden or wilderness of Southern Orlais. He hated snow, at least he did right now.

As he divested himself of his many layers of outerwear, Sebastian heard the unmistakable sound of Isabela's loud, sprawling laughter over a group of male guffaws. He froze, listening more intently to be sure, but when it sounded again, he was certain that it was Isabela. What was she doing here? Melissa usually went to see her mother on Tuesdays, so they wouldn't be here together. Sebastian picked up his bag from where he'd set it down to take off his coat and slung it over a shoulder as he went into the large common room. Most of his brothers were gathered there, smoking, some drinking beer, and all paying attention to Isabela, who was playing storyteller.

Sebastian picked up a dubious looking piece of breaded fried food and then put it back down as his stomach turned. It was cold and greasy, not the best thing to put in his past empty belly. Instead of searching for more food, he leaned down to kiss Bela's cheek with his cold lips, which she presented to him without interrupting her story. She finished her thought and then turned to him.

"Hi, Sebastian. Hawke's upstairs; she had to take a call," Isabela said as an aside to him. "So then I told him, it most certainly was like that when we got here, but Hawke started to panic."

"Melissa's here?" he asked, surprised. Isabela nodded. She looked up at him for the first time and Sebastian was struck by how well she looked. She was always beautiful, but since the death of her ex-husband and her trouble with his wife, she'd been worried and harried, even if she'd tried to hide it. Now, with graduation looming on the horizon, and the promise of new adventure in the air, Isabela was back in her comfort zone, amusing herself here until school ended and something better could be found.

"You look lovely today," he told her truthfully, and she beamed at him. Someone around them coughed pointedly at his comment, making Isabela laugh.

"Oh piss off," she said to the anonymous cougher, "he's so like a sibling he's practically required to say that to me, even if it is true. I need another drink," she said. She sat up, pushing her hair over a shoulder. It was longer than he'd ever seen it before and shone in honey brown waves. She was wearing an ivory sweater and brown suede pants, both of which fit her perfectly and displayed her assets to every advantage. The gold bangles on her arm slid down as she sat up fully, clinking gently as Sebastian held out his hand to offer assistance. She shook her head at him. "Go find Hawke. You've heard this one before."

He smiled a little at the dismissal, and detoured to the kitchen for a protein bar before taking the stairs two at a time to get to his room. The dirt-flavored bar was gone before Sebastian even pushed open his door, where Melissa was laying on his bed staring up his ceiling. Her phone lay next to her, and he had the feeling she'd just ended her call.

"Hi," she said, turning to look at him. She gave him a small smile as she did. "Sorry to barge in on you."

"I think it's the other way around," Sebastian answered, closing the door behind him as he came over to her. Like he had with Bela, he kissed her in greeting, but Melissa's kiss was no peck on the cheek. "I thought you were going to visit Leandra."

"I did, but she wasn't feeling well, so I left early. You texted me that you wanted to talk earlier, and your class was over, so I came here with Bela." She pushed up on one elbow and added, "You should talk to Worthy. He was super-creepy today. He told Bela he'd drink her bathwater."

"Ew," Sebastian said before he could stop himself, wrinkling his nose. "I know I've heard that before, but it never ceases to be disgusting. I'll have a word with him. How's your mother?"

"Fine enough, I suppose. I was just talking to Bethany and she said she didn't think it was enough to take her to the clinic, just indigestion." Melissa heaved a sigh as Sebastian sat down to take his books out of his bag. "Beth was upset about something Carver said about not caring about the Amell Foundation, but I think she's really just upset with him in general. I tried to tell her that he gave up his last name to be a Warden, but she doesn't want to get it right now."

"You sound like you need a break," he said, grinning at her.

"Is that what your text was about? Spring break again?"

Spring break was almost a rite of passage for him. It had signified true freedom, the chance to bask on the shores of some beautiful resort for a week, but more importantly, to drink uninterrupted by class, to find a place full of beautiful people and dance until dawn. He'd been working on getting her to go away with him for a week, just the two of them. Sebastian was unsurprised that Melissa had never managed to get out of Kirkwall for spring break, but still sad she hadn't experienced it, and he was determined to change that.

"Are you hungry? I'm starved," he said, avoiding the question.

"I had a pizza earlier," she admitted, "while I was waiting for you, but we could order something else for you."

“So you’ve never been away since you moved to Kirkwall?” he asked, trying and failing to mask his horror at the thought. She shrugged, as if the sacred and beautiful tradition of spring break meant nothing to her.

"I went to your formal, I think that counts." Melissa was sitting on his bed with her eyes closed. He needed dinner still even if she didn't and he was torn between arguing his case and finding something to eat, fast. The meager protein bar he'd got on the way up wasn't even a memory.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it," he said. "You never took even a couple days off for a trip?"

“Nope. Isabela and I wound up places when we first met, but most of the time it wasn't anything close to a vacation. More of an adventure, and not funny at the time it was happening. Anyway, I can't go away for spring break. I still don’t have money to piss away, even if things are better than they were.”

“It’s not pissing away money, Liss. This is a much-needed break. You work hard, and you should take some time away from it,” he said. "Spring break isn't just about getting drunk, although that's always enjoyable in the right place, but about actually taking a break. That's why they have midterms the week before, so you can actually relax during the break. We can do anything you want this year, and it's our last chance to have a whole week away from school."

“So I should do it on the coast of Rivain, drinking out of a pineapple?” she asked, only a little sarcastically. When he gave her a look, she deigned to think about it and gave him a small smile. He'd suggested Rivain as a place to go last time they'd talked about going away. “Well, I guess that doesn’t sound too bad. But I can't, for several reasons. I should get a sandwich delivered from the Old Harbor Bar. They have good sandwiches.”

Before Sebastian could voice his rebuttal to the first part of her statement, she held up a hand. “You can’t pay for something like this. I don’t care how much money you have. You can pay for a sandwich though.”

"What if we didn't have to pay for the trip?" he asked, looking at her. He watched her face as she considered him, thinking about what the meaning behind his words.

"Sell it to me," she said, and he knew then that he'd won. She just wanted to be sure. Melissa picked up her phone and looked at the menu for the bar. "You sure you don't want anything?"

"Liss, you know I want something. Fried pickles to start," he said and she grinned at him as she handed him her phone to look at the menu. The edges were blurred from her normally tired face, and she looked peaceful for once. She was frustrated by her sister but cheerful, and entirely too kissable. Gazing at her, part of him wished she were like this more often, more relaxed and less tense.

“The beauty of this trip is that we can just borrow a space," Sebastian continued on, "and it won’t cost us much. We can stay at the house my family keeps in Rivain, if you're serious about wanting to go there. So expenses will be kept low. Just money for going out to eat or whatever you want to do during the day. No parties unless you want to, no clubs. Just us.”

“And how will we get there?” she asked.

“I’m so glad you asked,” Sebastian said. “We can use my family's plane to go, since we'd have to take it to get the island anyway. It's got its own approach.”

"Oh is that all?" she asked, grinning at him. "We just take the private jet to the private villa and it's practically free for everyone involved?"

"Lissa, we already own the jet and the villa, for longer than I've been alive, so it's not like I bought them just for us to use. But I can get permission to use them, especially if I remind my father that I was on the Dean's List last semester, which he seems to think is the only measure of true collegiate merit. We'll get to have the break we didn't get at the formal, with the drunk girls and stolen absinthe."

She didn't respond and Sebastian tried begging. "Please Lissa, I just want to go away with you."

Melissa gave it some more thought, silently playing with a loose string on his blanket as she did. She twirled it around her smallest finger and released it, then repeated the action as he watched. When she'd made a decision, her spine straightened and she said, “All right, I’ll go. This is my last spring break after all.”

Sebastian broke out into a wide grin. “That’s my girl! I promise this will be fun.”

He would make sure it would be.

#

A few weeks later

Her last midterm had been the day before in the morning, one more of those final hurdles knocked down before graduation. Melissa was so excited this semester; everything before her hummed with possibility and potential. She was so close to the end that graduation was all Melissa could think about.

There was little else to hold her imagination most of the time, so she thought about the weather warming and the months to come, a whole summer that held nothing but promise. Honestly, school was boring for her without a challenging class this semester. Melissa dropped the uninteresting advanced class she'd tried taking this semester, with plans to maybe take it later on if she wanted to go back to school. When she first dropped the class, she thought she'd have nothing to do at all, but her social life had grown unexpectedly busy. What she didn't have was a real interest in school anymore.

Maker, it was so nice to be carefree.

Melissa spent an awful lot of time at the KSE house these days, just hanging out with the brothers and her boyfriend. She visited her mother quite frequently, worked with Bethany and got into more trouble than ever with Isabela. They drank too much at Varric's insistence and then had to call Sebastian come pick them up. Aveline grew weary of her indecipherable drunken texts, though at least half of them were just her not caring how they autocorrected and sending them on for the sake of amusement. She went to her first basketball game at Kirkwall Tech, though their team left much to be desired, she enjoyed actually being able to go. Having so much time was exciting, even if she realized that her studies had fallen from their previous place at the forefront of her concerns to well in the middle.

She had a feeling that this spring was going to be the best yet, especially since she was going to Rivain with Sebastian to kick it off. The morning of their departure, she woke up in his arms to see him grinning excitedly down at her. They were really doing this, going away together, and she was actually giddy. They were taking a private plane but they had a set flight time, so she and Sebastian had to get to the airport before the time on the itinerary. That morning Melissa rolled her borrowed luggage from Isabela out to the car and they went off on her first trip away from Kirkwall. Excitement welled in her and threatened to bubble over into anxiousness. After two solid weeks of Sebastian talking it up, the day was finally here. He loaded her bag into his car, so cheerful that Melissa almost didn't mind that he was such a morning person. His cheer was infectious, and she felt herself smiling for no good reason as she got in the car.

He was awfully cheerful for someone that had only one midterm and it was yesterday afternoon. They could have left earlier if it hadn't been for that. Sebastian was wearing the sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt version of the comfortable gym clothes he always wore when he wasn't opting for a suit, and happily whistling to himself as the late sun rose around them. He did opt for his many, expensive and perfectly tailored suits more often now that they were getting closer to graduation, and he had to look like a responsible adult. But those days still infrequent, and Sebastian was planning to change into lighter clothes before they landed. He had jeans, but he hated to wear them and declined to even pack them for Rivain. She was wearing a pair though, and wondered if they'd be too heavy in the tropical climate. She'd been checking the weather all morning, but it was just regular morning weather, though it would undoubtedly be much warmer when they arrived midday.

The plane was amazing, and she wondered once more about Sebastian's relationship with his parents. They couldn't be too mad at him if they were letting him use this plane and take her to their private villa. Melissa didn't bother to ask, of course, because Sebastian barely seemed to know how his parents felt, except when he earned their displeasure. His mother had only sent one message recently that Melissa knew about, saying that she might see him on her way to fashion week in Orlais, but hadn't that passed? Melissa got out her phone to check, but then realized there was more than one fashion week in Orlais. It seemed like every city of note had its own fashion week.

Sebastian was sitting in the seat beside her, smiling. Everything was loaded up and they were ready to go, excitement thrumming through her veins. Melissa was handed her mimosa from the flight attendant, who explained they were doing some routine checks before they were going to start up. They waited patiently, chatting a little, Sebastian telling her about the places they could go and the things to see on the island.

And then they waited some more.

"Does it always take this long?" Melissa asked, and Sebastian shook his head.

"Let me go check," he said, and as he said it, he got up out of his seat. "Stay here."

Melissa sipped at her drink, hoping that nothing was seriously wrong. If there was something wrong with the plane, well, they could wait a little longer. Maybe there was a regular flight they could get on if necessary. It would be a bitch to get all of their things off and reloaded, but she wanted to get going. She drained the mimosa as she waited, and realized that there were no attendants in the cabin with her. No one else was there, not even in the small nook where they'd been when she'd been waiting with Sebastian. They had been sitting for an awfully long time, they were supposed to have taken off by now. She closed her eyes and put her empty glass down on the tray in front of her.

"Lissa, love, I have to go home," Sebastian said coming toward her. Melissa's eyes had snapped open at the sound of movement, and she saw his distressed, angry face. He was on the phone but not talking into it, just listening to whoever was on the other end. The excitement that had fizzled inside of her this morning like the champagne in her mimosa suddenly went flat.

"Okay, we can get the car," she began, but he cut her off.

"No, to Starkhaven. That's where this plane is going. You don't have to come, I won't ruin your break like this."

"Starkhaven?" she asked incredulously. He nodded at her question, and then paused to listen to the person on the other end of his phone. "Then, I'm going with you," she said, adamant.

"You want to come with me? Are you sure?" He was gravely serious, and she knew that something was very wrong. Melissa nodded at him.

"Of course. I'm with you Sebastian, always," she said, and he gave her a brief nod of appreciation and got back on his phone.

"Father, we're on our way," he said, and then listened for a minute. There were a few Yes, sirs, and No, Your Highnesses, and then he hung up. When he sat back down next to her, he put his face in his hands, and the flight attendant came back out to remove their drinks for take off.

Melissa waited, tense and filled with foreboding. They were going to Starkhaven, and there was something very, very wrong. He hadn't been allowed to go home in years and now they were being recalled there, both him and her. She didn't flatter herself -- if she hadn't already been on the plane, she wouldn't be going, no matter how she felt about Sebastian. Sebastian said nothing as they taxied through the runway, and she took his hand. He let her, but he didn't say anything.

When they were in the air, he turned to her. His face was nothing like it had been just twenty minutes before as they'd sat together. Now his eyes were tired and his generous, soft mouth pinched with tension. "My eldest brother, Graham, the Crown Prince of Starkhaven, had a heart attack this morning in the early hours. He's alive and in the hospital now, recovering from surgery. My father asked me to come home."

"Sebastian, I'm so sorry," Melissa said.

"Me too," he said, and sighed. "Graham and I were never close. He's fifteen years my elder. The last time I saw him, he called me an embarrassment." He laughed, a wet huff of a sound. "But we've talked since then, and he apologized for saying it. Graham wrote to me, just an email here and there, but he sent me money. The summer after my freshman year. I hadn't planned that far and went back to the Chantry to stay for the summer, because I was out of money and if it wasn't school related, my father wouldn't pay for it. Graham sent me money, enough that I could have gotten a place. I thought to save it for the next summer, instead of using my credit cards, having everything I bought looked over by accounting teams that reported to my father."

Pushing himself up with a visible effort, he sat back in his chair and gave Melissa a grim smile. "Anyway I didn't need it. I started living at the KSE house, staying there in the summer. The following year, once my parents knew I was serious, they gave me money, my car, and eventually an allowance at the end of the semesters as rewards."

"I thought you had the car the whole time you were at Tech," she said, but he shook his head.

"No, I just got it after Satinalia my junior year, a few months before I started seeing you." Then unexpectedly, Sebastian grinned at her and shot her a look. "You really must not know cars. It was brand new."

"That was always more Carver's thing."

"Explains why he whistled at my car when I pulled up that time," Sebastian said, and this time he gave a real laugh, at least it was less awful than the last had ben.

As if he felt guilty for that bit of merriment, he sobered at once. "This isn't a long flight. Not as long as the one we had scheduled, anyway. We should get to Starkhaven in less than an hour."

Melissa looked down at her jeans-clad legs and the one nod to fashion she'd put on, a cute empire waist shirt in a deep purple color. "Not that I'm not excited to meet your family, but I packed for Rivain. How is this going to work?" she asked, but Sebastian waved her concern aside.

"I'll take care of it," he answered, and she tried not to bristle at his casual waving away of her concerns. This wasn't about her, but even as she bit the words back, they felt bitter on her tongue. "Rather, my mom will likely. Anyway, Lissa, it doesn't matter. They'll love you even if you were wearing a bathrobe."

"I doubt that," she said, and laughed at her own joke.

He took another deep, calming breath and blew it out slowly. Then he turned to her, a hard look in his normally kind eyes. "I should prepare you for what you're walking into. Tell you what you need to know about my family," he told her.

And for the rest of the flight, he did.


	2. Chapter 2

This was not how he wanted to go home.

In his daydreams, he'd pictured something more elegant, Sebastian graduated, coming home to visit after years away. His own life established, his mom contrite and proud, his father overbearing (as always) and conciliatory. His brothers were always suitably impressed by him and his life, but never the main focus of his attention. Sometimes in his mind, Melissa was with him in those dreams, beautiful and well-dressed, flush with happiness at his side. He never really stopped to think about what would make her flush with happiness to be at his side in the dream, meeting his parents, but she was.

But this wasn't that dream, or anything dream-like at all, but a nightmare. What he hadn't said, but Melissa had probably already deduced was that his father knew he was going to send for him this morning. He waited until they got on the plane to tell them. The crew already knew they were being rerouted. They were just waiting for him to call, and that's what held them up. Graham had been in and out of surgery already, before Sebastian even knew. Maker, that fact alone was enough to make Sebastian enraged. He had to tamp that down, to restrain his anger because it would only wind up hurting him and Melissa, especially if his parents learned of it.

Everything came with strings, and these were the ones that came from attempting to utilize part of the ridiculous largess of his family. Had he not been on this plane, who knows how his parents would have summoned him, or even they would have bothered. But he'd already come to them, asked them for something, and now he had to be part of the family again, whether he wanted to or not. What he'd told Melissa about Graham was true, they hadn't gotten along ever, though both of his brothers had been trying to close the gap between them since Rion's visit.

He tried to warn her, to tell her all the things he hadn't yet said about his family that might be important. She knew so much already, but they were his feelings mostly, not topics she could bring up when she met them. Sebastian ordered coffee and talked until he couldn't think of anything else, and then he made arrangements to be able to have a change of clothes before he saw his parents. Graham wouldn't begrudge him a pit stop to make sure he had on nicer pants and a proper shirt before he saw his mother.

"Sebastian?" Melissa asked, her voice small and wary. He turned towards her and blinked, trying to pull himself from his thoughts. "Do you need anything? I know you're not okay, but I don't know, I thought I could do something for you," she said, giving him an all too earnest look. "Would you like a hug?"

He almost laughed. He probably would have if it had been anyone besides her asking. Once he bit back that initial urge to scoff, Sebastian decided that he did want a hug. When he leaned in and let her fold her arms around him, he wanted more than a hug, and started kissing her neck. It was unfair that this was dropped on them, taking their vacation away, ruining what they'd planned, the one vacation he'd been able to talk her into this year. Maker, her skin was so soft beneath her clothes, and he kissed further down her collarbone. If this was before, he'd have already had her naked in the seat. They'd never really let him use the plane before, but the few times he had were memorable. Maybe he should recreate them with Melissa right now, take his mind from Graham and everything he'd have to face soon enough.

Before he could keep his kisses going, slowly delving lower until he'd have to take her top off, Melissa pulled away from him. The look she was giving him said too much, despite her not uttering a word. She was frowning at him, more concerned then censuring, but it stung all the same. He looked away from her. "I'm sorry," he said.

"No, it's fine. I just want to know if that's really what you want or are you just upset?"

She knew him too well, and he was more than a little annoyed with her in that moment. Sebastian shook his head, wishing that he could somehow talk to his therapist before they landed. Though he couldn't actually speak with his doctor, he knew what he would say: "Sex is a shared way of creating positive physical sensations, a rush of endorphins, among other things. You may have used it to escape negative feelings and connect superficially with others."

"I can't believe I have to go home like this," he admitted through gritted teeth, angry again now that he had to think about it. He was scared too, frightened that they'd land in Starkhaven and that Graham would be dead and no one would tell him until his father said so. He fought with his brother last time they talked, and there was that and so many other things he had to say, wanted to explain. This special, intimate trip with Melissa had been thwarted in one move from his father, their whole spring break upended, and he was upset about that too. "I just wanted to take you to Rivain."

She covered his hand with hers and sighed. "I know. We'll go another time."

He was sure they wouldn't. His parents would think of something to keep them away, some reason why he couldn't use the house or plane. All of this had been too easy, he'd been foolish to think he'd actually earned some trust from them. They'd probably been planning to bring him back to Starkhaven all along, and Graham had just provided a convenient excuse.

No. He had to stop thinking like this. Sebastian looked down at Melissa's hand covering his and brought it to his lips and kiss the top of her hand. Then he looked out the window into the clouds, trying not to wonder what was coming next.

It took fifty minutes to fly to Starkhaven, land and deplane, although he wasn't sure if that was because the plane was ordered to make the best time possible or if that was the real flight time. Melissa held his hand, but didn't say much, but then again he supposed there wasn't much to say. Sebastian was instantly tense about everything, and he watched Starkhaven go by out the window of the car sent to meet them without a word. It was the same, so achingly familiar, and much changed, the sight of it stirring a tangle of confused emotion in him. He was home, but he'd been gone for only about four years. It hadn't been decades.

He was taken to the palace and it was there that he was able to make a quick change. It wasn't even his room or anyone's room where he changed, but in a private office on the first floor where a retainer waited for him outside the door. Melissa wasn't even allowed out of the car. There was no further news on Graham, though he was told his mother an father were with him. Then they were whisked away to the hospital, with no further updates on his brother. There was no point in asking their driver or another servant, they wouldn't know and weren't allowed to answer him even if they did. That was another one of his father's fun rules, the servants didn't have to answer or obey him at all while he was exiled. He didn't know if that had been lifted, if he was able free from all the restrictions and arbitrary rules imposed over the years.

He had no idea if he was still a prince in anything other than name, even here in Starkhaven.

They were shown to a private waiting area once they got to the hospital, and he paced. He was here, and now what? What did his father mean by bringing him here? Did it bother him more than he was summoned back to Starkhaven and included or what he rather have been excluded like a true exile? Sebastian wasn't sure at all.

"Sebastian," Melissa said softly, calling his attention to her as she registered Cristina's presence, "your mother is here."

"Hello, Sebastian."

"Mom!" Sebastian couldn't help his smile, but it dimmed just a little as he looked at his mother. It wasn't that she was tired or fraught with worry, it was just the opposite. His mother looked like she couldn't cry, like her facelift was physically preventing it. She was dressed like she was going out for lunch, not sitting at a sickbed, and Sebastian knew that something was wrong.

He hadn't been able to tell how she was from her letters and she didn't come to visit him anymore. If Orion hadn't come to see him and told him something was wrong, just seeing her would have been enough to tip him off. Her smile was directed only at him, as if Melissa wasn't even there. Even in his wildest days, she'd never been rude like this, prided herself on being nothing less than gracious even to the his more interesting acquaintances. But now his mother felt wrong, stilted, like the stories about demons taking a face. She ended their hug too quickly, though she did ruffle his hair, and turned her eye on Melissa without telling him how Graham was doing. She stood there, not making any effort to speak to Melissa, just staring at her as if she were covered in slime, her lip curling up as she looked down on his girlfriend.

"Mom, this is Lady Melissa Hawke, Lady Leandra Amell's daughter. You remember Leandra, don't you? I'm sorry to rush the introduction, but how is Graham?"

"Of course, I should have said immediately," his mother said, turning back to him and ignoring Melissa again. "He's fine, resting now, but entirely fine. The healers and physicians here are the best. They'll help strengthen him every day, but I confess I didn't really listen too carefully. I was so relieved that Graham would be well, and of course that you were coming home."

Sebastian breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Can I see him? Is Helene here? Or Rion? I haven't seen anyone."

"Helene I sent home to rest once we were sure that Graham was recovering well. Orion has a new baby, should you wish to see his adopted child, you'll have to stop by his home. He and his husband have set up their own residence and don't stay at the palace anymore." It was only then that she turned back to Melissa, who'd stood when she came into the room and was still waiting to be acknowledged. "Forgive me, Lady Melissa is it? My manners have abandoned me."

Melissa gave a proper curtsy, looking his mother in the eye the whole time. The movement was smooth and practiced, as if she'd known she'd need to use it sometime. He was impressed; he'd have to ask her about that later. "It is understandable, Your Highness. I don't wish to intrude on family business. I'll take my leave and go to get some coffee, with your permission."

"Of course," Cristina said, waving a dismissing hand at Melissa. That was the same way she treated her servants when they'd displeased her. Sebastian grit his teeth, but didn't say anything.

Melissa made to go, picking up the handbag she'd left sitting on the chair behind her. Sebastian wasn't going to let her leave without saying something, and he pulled her into a hug. She was stiff and tense under his arms, though she softened enough to hug him back. "Thank you for coming with me, Lissa. I'll come get you in the refectory later."

"You know I wouldn't let you go alone," Melissa murmured, and Sebastian let her go. Both he and his mom watched her leave.

"She's thin, isn't she?" Cristina asked, talking more to herself than him. "Almost lanky. Those kinds of bodies you always see in Orlais on the runway, but she isn't quite tall enough to model."

"Mom?" Sebastian asked, completely thrown by her statements.

"Oh Sebastian, don't mind me. A mother has a right to scrutinize the people her son brings home. I'll go tell His Highness, your father, that you'd like to see Graham. He's in the room with him."

Then she fluttered off down the hall in a wash of fabric and expensive perfume, but Sebastian was left frowning in her wake. This wasn't how he expected home, or her, to be. His mother wasn't herself, seemed to be more like the scheming, lying Johane Harriman than herself. What had happened in the last four years in Starkhaven?

#

"He's awake now," Rodric Vael told Sebastian after they'd exchanged tense greetings. Meeting with his father was strained under the best of times, but talking to him over Graham's sickbed was worse than any he could remember. The already tense atmosphere between them seemed enhanced by this setting, and Sebastian could do nothing to remedy that. He tried instead to make himself small, though hoping to escape his father's notice had never once worked in the past.

As if he could sense Sebastian's desire to shrink, his father turned his gaze on him and frowned. He motioned for Sebastian to sit in the chair he'd recently vacated and there was nothing more either of them could think to say. For his part, Graham said nothing, though his eyes were on Sebastian the whole time. Their father, never one for hovering, decided to end their awkwardness.

"I'm going to see if that bloody doctor has all the test results yet," his father said, and out he went, giving Sebastian time alone with his brother. Graham looked over at him, his eyes a duller blue than Sebastian remembered, his face grey with stubble blooming unevenly on his chin. Even though he looked unwell, Sebastian felt something loosen his chest, a knot of worry that he hadn't even acknowledged was there as he and Graham stared at each other.

"I could hardly believe it when His Highness said you were on your way. You're looking well, Sebastian," Graham said, his voice thinner than usual and slurred with sleep, but he sounded like himself.

"Graham. I wish I could return the compliment," he replied, giving his brother a wry half-smile. "I'm glad I could come back."

"Well, I'm fucking surprised. Father said you still weren't allowed back this year, which I thought was just him being a damn bad sport. I talked to him after Satinalia. You've done better these past few years. Engineering seems to agree with you," Graham told him, and when Sebastian looked over at his brother, he saw pride in his sick, droopy eyes.

"Enough about me," Sebastian said, "What happened Graham?"

"Felt like indigestion, until I started throwing up. It's a surgery then the healers come in and try to repair your heart, the walls weaken. They shave your balls for this, trying to go in through your groin. You ever shaved down there? Gonna itch like hell when it starts to come back in," Graham told him, and Sebastian couldn't help but laugh.

"You know the story, Sebastian. Bad diet of delicious food, not enough exercise, stress of running a principality, feuding with every other member of the family, long days at the office, and boom, you're on your back getting a balloon and stent operation."

"Graham, how's Helene taking it?" Sebastian asked.

"About as well as I could hope. Helene's been here since the beginning, Father had to send her home. I wish she didn't have to see me like this. She's been on me to exercise for ages," Graham said. He was obviously tiring from the talking, and Sebastian reached over and touched his arm.

"I'll go see her when I get to the palace. Not that she'll be glad to see me, but I should speak to her. We can just sit together, no need to talk," he suggested, but Graham made a dismissive noise.

"You're home. I never thought you'd come back, not for me. Tell me about your life, how's school?" Graham asked.

"School's fine. Graduation is coming up, and it's spring break right now. So as long as I've passed my midterms, I'll be a man with a civil engineering degree come six weeks from now," Sebastian paused and added, "Melissa and I were going up to the house in Rivain to spend the week. She's here with me now."

To his surprise, Graham started to give a sputtering, wheezing sound that alarmed Sebastian until he figured out it was a laugh. "You were taking her to Rivain?! And I interrupted your romantic vacation? Well that's just damn bad timing." When Sebastian said nothing in response, his brother went on, "Wait, is this the same girl?" he asked.

"The same girl as what?" Sebastian asked, confused.

"The one Rion met. The same one father mentioned you were seeing last year when he visited. Father was impressed it lasted more than a month."

"We've been together about a year now," he confirmed.

"I thought you'd been with her for a while. Are you proposing? What's going on?"

"Ah, not proposing, not yet. Just wanted to take her away for spring break. Doing something special." At the blush that crept up his cheek, Sebastian turned away from his brother.

He shook his head at Graham's questions, trying to discourage more, but then saw his brother's eyes were closed. That was good, maybe he'd fall back to sleep and forget he'd asked, but he opened them to peak out at Sebastian again. "You're in love, little brother?" he asked, his voice ragged and yet gentle.

"Had to happen sometime," Sebastian confirmed, and Graham smiled as he closed his eyes again.

"The Maker does move in his own ways, because I put money on this never happening before you turned thirty."

"You've lost, I'm afraid," Sebastian said, and brought the blanket up higher on Graham's chest.

Graham didn't answer as he drifted back into sleep, and Sebastian settled in the chair his father had vacated, watching over him. After a slight hesitation, he took Graham's nearest hand and held onto it while he slept.

#

Melissa actually did go to get coffee, though she barely drank any of it. Mostly, it kept her hands warm as she tried to get her bearings. Sebastian had been understandably upset on the plane and the ride to the hospital, and she wasn't sure if she could believe his mother when she said his brother was okay. Melissa looked down at her hands, the nails freshly manicured and squared off by Isabela's aesthetician. Her days were emptier now, and she went to the spa with Bela more often than for just a treat. More time to pamper and preen like the prize winning hogs that used to go to the county fair in Ferelden.

That's a little how she felt here with Sebastian. His mother had swept her regal gaze over and definitely found her wanting, though Melissa had been buffed and waxed within an inch of her life before getting on the plane with Sebastian. It was just her luck that she wasn't going to be romping around in a bikini but instead tiptoeing around Sebastian's family during a crisis. The thought crossed her mind that she should go back to Kirkwall in the morning, but she didn't want to leave Sebastian here alone. Andraste only knew if his family would let him go back to Kirkwall if it didn't suit their whim.

Starkhaven didn't look at all like Kirkwall, despite them still being in the Free Marches. She had the urge to call Varric and tell him he was right about this place. It felt so performative, like everyone was shined up and ready to be called upon to play a part at a moment's notice. Melissa couldn't deny that what she'd seen of the city was beautiful however, and she felt bad hoping that they might be allowed to see more of it on this trip. It wasn't a vacation anymore, she had to remind herself, it was a family emergency. She wasn't here to go sightseeing, she was here because Sebastian's brother nearly died. If the situation were reversed and this was Carver or Bethany, Sebastian would be right with her, trying to make her okay and doing everything he could. She'd gotten the evil once-over from his mother and skittered away like a frightened rodent.

She could do better than that, for his sake.

"May I join you, Lady Melissa?" a baritone, Starkhaven-accented voice asked, and Melissa looked up to see a man that could only be Sebastian's father looking down at her. Technically, she guessed she had seen him once before, when they'd first started dating and she and Bethany had been working for Athenril, but that had been a glimpse of his back as he went into a restaurant. In front of her now was an attractive older man, a face that did and didn't look like Sebastian even though they had the same eyes.

"Of course, Your Highness," Melissa answered, getting up so he could sit first.

"You look thoughtful," he commented as he sat down across from her. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I've wanted to meet you."

"Oh, well, here I am," Melissa said awkwardly, trying not think about why Sebastian's father wanted to meet her. "I am terribly sorry about illness of the Crown Prince, and I hope he has a speedy recovery," she added, trying to make sure she wasn't forgetting any other pleasantries.

"Thank you, my lady. I do hope he recovers quickly as well. I don't like to see any of them sick, never have," he said, looking off into the distance as he fell into his private memories. She waited without trying to force conversation, and he blinked and turned his gaze back on her. "You're Fereldan then?"

"Yes, Your Highness, born and raised," she answered, but then went on boldly, before her nerve deserted her, "but that isn't really why you wanted to talk to me, is it?"

He gave her a level look, the kind that might have made her squirm if she hadn't seen Sebastian give that same look to the KSE members so often. She met his gaze easily, and waited. Neither of them blinked, but he spoke first, "I suppose I just wanted to give you this," he said and pulled a business card from a pocket. "This is my personal contact information. If you or Sebastian need anything, or if you just want to tell me how Sebastian's doing, you can contact me at these numbers and this email. He doesn't talk to me, never did, but I had hoped to do something for him for graduation."

"Oh, well, sure, thank you," Melissa said, stumbling over the words. That wasn't what she'd expected. "I feel like getting to graduation is all I've thought about, not the actual day itself, or a party. Oh, and our apartment, but that's...something else." She let the thought trail off, unsure if Sebastian had actually told his father that they would be living together.

"How is that going?" he asked, seizing the subject she'd offered to cover the strained moment between them.

She slid his card into her wallet as she replied, "Really well, actually. We've been picking out finishes, and I've been trying to convince Sebastian to let me do some of the work."

"Some of the work?"

"It's silly, really," she said, her face flushing as she explained, "but I like carpentry and so does Sebastian. I used to build things for my family in Ferelden, with my father. We had a farm. I can build cabinets and things like that. I thought this summer it might be a good project for the two of us not to buy everything, but to make some of it ourselves. Sebastian built the planters around the KSE house this year and fixed the deck. Together we could, um, make it ours."

It really had been a flight of fancy on her part, but she'd been laying in bed with him reading an article about decorating and attached had been plans to build a nightstand. She clicked on them and found herself in a world of DIY blogs, fascinated. There were videos and ideas and brag posts from successful attempts to follow the plans. It felt like the sewing sites her mother frequented, but for furniture.

"Sebastian does woodworking?" his father asked, clearly perplexed at the news.

Melissa nodded. "He's rather good at it." She was saved from having to explain more by the appearance of Sebastian and Orion, who were having a conversation as they walked over to them. As soon as her eyes flicked up to them, His Highness started getting up. Their conversation was over, and she guessed she'd simply been a distraction for him in a trying time. More than likely he wouldn't even remember what they'd spoken about later on.

She hadn't known what to expect when she got to Starkhaven, didn't know if being royalty here was as mundane as being the Viscount in Kirkwall, but it clearly wasn't. As Rion and Sebastian walked through the refectory, she could see people stopping to stare, conversations coming to a halt as they went by. The two of them ignored it, if they even noticed at all. She could see it clearly though, the awe, the interest and in some cases, the respect that carried through the furtive glances and outright stares. Being a prince of Starkhaven was nothing at all like being Lady Melissa in Kirkwall.

"Your Highness, Father, Rion was just inviting Melissa and I to stay with him. I think that might be best, since Helene will likely be here," Sebastian said.

"I agree," His Highness said, standing up. "Your mother and I will be busy as well, back and forth here and to the bank, and Orion has ample space for visitors and time that I do not. There is a private prayer session for Graham at the Chantry and you all will be there."

"Yes, sir," both Rion and Sebastian said at the same time.

"Lady Melissa, it was a pleasure to chat with you. I will see you tonight at the Chantry as well. Sebastian, I believe your mother would like to speak with you about that. I'll get back to Graham," he said, and walked away.

Orion came over and gave her a hug as soon as their father turned his back, while Sebastian watched him walk away, staring after him.

"What just happened?" Melissa asked. It was a general question, but Rion shook his head at her.

"I can't wait for you to meet my kids," he said instead of answering her question.

She still wasn't sure what was going on as she was loaded into another car, but accepted that this was just the day for her to be kept in the dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian's mother was to provide the two of them with appropriate clothing for their visit, which meant that her assistants were going to provide them with appropriate clothes. She and Sebastian had a quick meal together before her makeup was done and he was sent for a shave and haircut. Melissa found herself equipped with a new dress and with her hair styled and makeup done before they had to go to the Chantry. But she had to deal with Sebastian's mother, and she was certain that the woman didn't like her at all, for whatever reason.

Cristina Vael stopped in as Melissa was trying on clothes. They were brought to her at the palace, clothes from the boutiques that dotted the best part of the city of Starkhaven. She wondered how they knew her size, but apparently they did, because the outfits were all mostly the same size. Those that weren't would be taken care of by the tailors that worked for the palace, and she regretted that they'd have a long night on her behalf. There were shoes and the appropriate accessories and all of that, and Melissa felt a little like when Mother was pinning clothes on her.

Except there were far more clothes than her Mother could ever sew at once. There were more clothes here than Melissa actually owned, which was saying something. The realization that even after all these years, Mother making her things and the odd acquisition here and there, she still had so little, it made her heart hard. She forced her hand out of the fist it curled into as Sebastian's mother came to critique her.

"It's good to see you dressed so well, Lady Melissa," Cristina said. A flurry of curtsying ensued, and Melissa, standing in the middle of the room was automatically the focal point.

Mother had warned her, told her how society was, that not everyone was as kind or as soft as Sebastian. She knew how to navigate these dark waters, because Mother had insisted on her knowing once she started dating Sebastian. "He won't be the bad exiled prince forever, just you watch," her mother had said. Melissa had only had a chance to text her and tell her what had happened when they were at the hospital, and no time since. Her eyes burned with fatigue, but she didn't falter in her correct curtsy, just the right amount of obeisance from a noble to royalty.

Cristina smirked at her, and Melissa saw Sebastian in it, but harder and crueler than he'd ever been. She was all soft lips and cheekbones, but instead of Sebastian's blue eyes, she had dark green ones that lent her a feline look. Sebastian looked very like his mother, so much that he and Graham only bore the faintest trace of resemblance, because Graham must have taken after his mother as well. They both had the eyes though, and it was said that gene for blue eyes ran strong in the Vael family.

"I am overwhelmed by your generosity, Your Highness. Truly, thank you for arranging matters concerning my wardrobe."

Cristina waved a hand as if swatting her words away. "It's nothing, my dear, and you do lack the proper clothes."

Melissa noticed that she didn't say 'for this occasion' or 'for Starkhaven'. Her heart sank as Cristina sat down, intending to watch Melissa dress and pick out her clothes. They'd only just started, and there were a lot of clothes to get through. She was wearing a modest day dress that fell past her knees in dove grey with a design of pale pink flowers and birds swirling across it, and a small pink belt spanning her waist. The high collar had a slight bit of ruffling with a band of pink ribbon to trim it, and Melissa was a little taken with it, the softness of the fabric, the way it felt under her hands. The grey was a perfectly respectable color, not too jubilant and the pink kept it from being too somber.

"I'd pass on that one, dear," Cristina advised. Melissa gave her a questioning look, but shook her head.

"I rather like it. It should be put on the yes pile for tonight," she told the assistants around her. Only one moved to execute her request, the others waiting until Cristina gave a faint nod of her head.

It was like dueling with a particularly ill-tempered cat. She fenced and dodged around the barbed comments about her weight (too thin), her family (what is Gamlen doing these days?) and her education (what does one do with a mathematics degree? Assess risk and value, much like the Bank of Starkhaven does, Melissa answered, making Cristina's mouth curl into a hard smile) Melissa managed to get the appropriate clothing for the duration of her trip. No one had ever told her how long they were meant to stay, but she guessed it couldn't be for more than a few days. Certainly not the whole week, at least, she hoped not.

"I always thought Sebastian attracted those who glittered like bright stars before. There were so many of them in Starkhaven, but so few once he got to Kirkwall," Cristina said, baring her teeth in a smile, "but it is good to see he's at least picked someone so practical these days."

"As you say, Your Highness," Melissa said, not bothering to try to formulate a biting response back to her. She was tired, she was insulted and confused. Where was the loving, doting mother that Sebastian had sat up and told her about during the nights when they revealed secrets to each other? Where was the woman that wanted him to get into a relationship and be happy, just happy?

Where was the woman who he'd insisted would love her, because he did? Her rudeness couldn't all be due to stress. Melissa took a deep, calming breath and remembered what her mother told her about growing up in Kirkwall. "They always try to test you, to see if your weakness is easy to find." It sounded a little like some of the people at Tech, to be honest, and Melissa opened eyes she hadn't realized she'd closed and smiled placidly at Cristina.

Still smiling, despite Cristina's continued presence, she took the grey and pink dress to wear to the Chantry that night. Melissa considered what that small act of defiance would cost in the future. More comments probably, or a backhanded compliment or two. Nothing she couldn't take, but enough to make her dispirited, even as she kept her face calm and smiling. Bethany was better at this, or at least she used to be. Kirkwall had changed much, but she was willing to bet her sister would be better with the princess than she was.

Sebastian was waiting for her when she emerged, with freshly straightened hair and much tidier eyebrows than she was used to. He was wearing a dark blue suit, and though clearly expensive and well-made, it wasn't quite right on him. Then again, neither was her dress. It didn't feel like it had on the night of his formal, or even the time when Rion had come to Kirkwall to visit. This time it felt stilted to be wearing these stiff, formal clothes.

Nothing about this day had been under their control since it started, and Melissa now knew why Sebastian was so wary of graduation, or rather, what might come after graduation. This life was exhausting in times like this, and too much like fencing for her taste. Princess of Starkhaven sounded like a great title until she had to live the life.

"You look very nice, Lissa," he said, and the words rang true but sounded so tired. She stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, and returned the compliment. Sebastian only nodded at her words. He seemed to be waiting for her to say more, but when she didn't, he gave her one last, searching look. "I'm sorry this interrupted our trip."

"I'm just glad your brother will recover. And you're back in Starkhaven, so that's...something," she said, unsure of how to finish. She pasted on a stiff smile as she said it, but closed her mouth around her complaints about his mother. Now was not the time.

Sebastian laughed, and it was as grim as her own rictus smile. "Yeah, it is something, isn't it?" he asked. "Are you sure you don't want to go home? I could send you now and no one would blame you. You wouldn't have to deal with," he spread his hands in a circle around him, "all of this."

The thought was tempting just to be done with this scenario, but then what would his family make of her? She didn't know what she'd do with herself back in Kirkwall. There was no work to drown herself in, no homework to distract her, and whether she liked it or not, she wanted to be here in Starkhaven with him.

"No, I'm with you, I told you that," she said, just as the car pulled up. "And I think things will be better tomorrow."

"I bloody hope so," he said, muttering the words under his breath.

#

To her great dismay, they were photographed going into the Chantry and leaving it after the private prayer service. They already knew her name, called to her to get Melissa to turn towards their cameras to get better photos of her face. They asked pointed, uncomfortable questions about Sebastian's past, and her own, all of which she ignored. A reporter standing with the photographers called him the "Party Prince" and asked if those days were over and worse, how she felt about it. She walked with Sebastian, side by side, her arm looped through his and her face straight ahead and solemn.

The short car ride wasn't ideal for getting to know each other, but Helene was warm, if guarded, around the two of them. Earlier, Sebastian recounted the conversation he and Graham had in the hospital, and she knew both Helene and Graham were skeptical of Sebatian's ability to change. After Melissa offered her well-wishes for Graham's speedy recovery, Helene busied herself in the car by asking them a lot of questions. Most of them were about how she'd wound up with Sebastian.

"You had classes together?" Helene asked, looking from her to Sebastian. The interior of the car was dimmed by the tinted windows, but the console lights reflected off her dark hair.

"Yes, civil engineers do have to know a little bit about mathematics," Sebastian answered, keeping his tone level. Melissa almost laughed.

"And your group, what's it called, Engineer Society?"

"Close enough."

"You all had a party, and you actually went? What's that like? Bunch of nerdy guys in matching shirts and cheap beer?" Helene asked.

"Pretty much," Melissa said and gave in to her laughter. "But it was the most fun I'd had all semester, and this years party was even better." Then she flushed, because she'd mostly skipped the party this past autumn to go home and fool around with Sebastian in her kitchen. But there would be another one after spring break, and she'd make sure she could go to that.

"You don't look like the party sort, if you don't mind me saying," Helene said, making both Melissa and Sebastian chuckle again.

"My roommate Isabela is, even if I'm not. I was dealing with a bad breakup at the time. She's the one that made me go the night Sebastian asked me out," Melissa answered.

"Ah, so you got together after a breakup," Helene said musingly, as if they both made more sense now. She was sitting across from the two of them, her long legs folded into a dainty slant that Melissa tried to copy and failed. Helene was taller than Melissa, but built like a stick with impressive breast implants.

"You grew up in Ferelden?" Helene asked Melissa, but went on to add unnecessarily, "I'm Orlesian, we're neighbors." As if her accent wasn't enough to broadcast where she was from.

"I'm from a little town in the middle of the bannorn called Lothering. We used to have a farm there, until you know, Ferelden had no economy because of the Blight."

"Your King is doing a good job of trying to recover, but it's still the early days. It takes decades to recover from economic collapse," Helene said knowledgeably, and Melissa realized she forgot to ask Sebastian if she was a banker too.

Sebastian asked Helene a question that Melissa didn't bother to listen to and she took the chance to turn away and sit back in her seat. She looked out the window, regretting the fact that she hadn't really seen Starkhaven. Every time she'd been in the car her mind had been preoccupied with where they were going, and now it was after dusk and she couldn't see much of anything. The buildings and the skyline were bigger than that of Kirkwall, there was just more, less harbor and more great estates and corporate offices and everything. Off in the distance, she saw a building with the Bank of Starkhaven on the side, lit up, and she wondered if Sebastian's father went to work there every day.

She wished she had a hat to hide under or something to keep them from seeing and photographing her so easily, but all she had was Sebastian. They were together as they walked in and out, he trailing his family as the last prince, the one with the least rank. It was strange to her to do things with such deliberate ceremony, observed in every way. She watched the show as part of it, and outside of her own body. His father put his arm around his mother, pulling her close, while Graham's wife walked on his other side, stiff and uncomfortable.

There had been a prayer service for Graham. The Grand Cleric lit incense and the red prayer candles, and they all said prayers for him, together and in silence. They prayed for the whole family, for the people of Starkhaven, and for Helene. Then they all received a benediction from the Grand Cleric and were invited to confess any sins. Even though she presented it as an optional invitation, they all lined up to wait to confess. Sebastian's mother looked pointedly at the two of them, but Melissa held her gaze without faltering until Cristina looked away. What could she possibly suspect them of doing? Having sex wasn't a sin in the eyes of the Maker and Andraste, though being an awful bitch probably counted. When Melissa went into the confessional, all she had to say was that she'd taken on worry that was not her own, and was angry at the turn of events.

Then there was a prepared statement by the Prince of Starkhaven to the press about Graham's well-being and prognosis, and that was it, at least inside the Chantry. Sebastian's father stood with the whole family behind him, her included, and the Grand Cleric at his side with her lit candle. It created a moving scene, she was sure, but all she did was hold onto Seabstian's arm and look contrite. It really hadn't been that difficult, Melissa thought, but it was also not a true test. Whenever she went out with Sebastian again, they would know he was no longer exiled, he was here, and she was with him, and they'd pounce.

"There will be a profile about you and I going up in about an hour," Sebastian told her, checking his phone on the ride back to the palace. "And tomorrow morning a piece about you and your background. Your Amell Foundation mission to restore your family home will be mentioned, though I'm not sure how heavily."

"How do you know this?" she asked, scooting closer to read his phone.

"My father told me. We have to have a relationship with the press. I had to give them your name, otherwise they would have gone on trying to dig it up, and who knows what else they would have found with it."

"Some bad grade school pictures from Ferelden, no doubt," she said, and he laughed. There was probably much more than her tired mind could think of at the moment.

"You can't take a bad picture," Sebastian said reassuringly. He was giving her a kind, tired smile. Helene looked up from her phone and was watching them, though feigning disinterest.

"You are biased, but thank you," she said, and curled into his arm. She was so very tired, and this day seemed like it would never end.

#

When they got to Rion's house, Sebastian was surprised at how homey it was. It was still huge, he didn't think his brother and husband would have had the option to pick something modest, but the space was obviously well-used by the family. There were toys everywhere when they came in, with Rion and Ted either picking them up or kicking them aside as they moved further into the house. The best part about it was that it was private, as opposed to the palace, where the photographers had their own entrance to the grounds.

His brother and brother in law had a house that looked like it was a beautiful, half-unpacked house that was mostly made for the comfort of their two children. Strangely, it reminded him of Leandra's apartment, though there had never been a toddler living there to his knowledge. Both places just had that shared feeling of being a real home where people lived their lives, doing more there than entertaining and sleeping. Melissa obviously liked it, she made sure to compliment some of the features as they came in, thanking Ted and Rion for letting them stay there.

He was exhausted, but he had the presence of mind to try to admire his brother's home. Sebastian also thanked them for letting them stay, and excused Ted when he went to go check in with their nanny. He was almost so tired that he walked past the mantle shelf with all the pictures lined up on it, but stopped to look at the baby photos of Rion's kids. How had he missed this? Guilt started to coil within him again, especially as he spied a wedding photo he'd never seen before.

There was a picture of him on the mantle, just the one, but Sebastian stopped short when he saw it. It was dreadfully old, and he couldn't do anything but stare at it for a few moments. Melissa came up to him while he was standing there and plucked it from the spot where it sat to get a closer look.

"Is this you?" she asked, goggling at the photo for a moment before her mouth began to twitch upwards with a smile, "with a whole sleeve of tattoos? How long ago was this?"

"I think he was about nineteen," Rion said, coming into the room. The picture she was examining was from before his parents had forcibly removed his tattoos. He was shirtless in a pool, smiling up at the camera with sunglasses keeping his wet hair from his eyes. It wasn't the kind of photo of him he'd want his family to have out on display. He barely remembered that summer, but in the best, hazy way of time that went too fast and where he'd done too much.

"I was nineteen. I miss that sleeve. Where did you get that?" Sebastian asked, looking over at his brother.

"We needed a picture of you, and there were no current ones at the palace when we left. Do you remember Nicolette du Champs?"

"She gave this to you? I thought she hated me for dumping her for her step-sister," Sebastian said, forgetting himself until Melissa whirled around to pierce him with a look.

"Is it wrong that I'm a little attracted to nineteen year old you?" Melissa asked. Sebastian gave a scoffing laugh that was covered by his brother's louder, more genuine laughter. Ted slipped back into their midst, nodding at Rion.

"Oh good, they're in bed," he said to Ted and earned another nod before turning back to Sebastian. "She doesn't hate you anymore, since her life as a Chantry Mother gives her time for contemplation and forgiveness. She sent that to me and a whole lot of other interesting photos of you and your friends from that summer, gave me the whole thumb drive of them. This was the only one of just you that was remotely fit to be displayed," Rion said. "That swimsuit was far too brief," he added, making Melissa burst in to giggles.

"Can I have a copy of this?" Melissa asked, and Sebastian took the framed photo away from her, scowling. He went to put it back on the mantle, but caught Rion winking at her conspiratorially. He'd be lucky if the walls of his room at KSE weren't plastered with that when he got back.

"Where are we staying?" he asked, trying to get the conversation off his old photo.

"Follow me. Your bags have already been put away as well as the clothes that came from the palace. Cristina said that there would be more when the tailors were finished," Ted answered, motioning for Melissa and Sebastian to follow him through the house.

There was one more photo of Sebastian, but he only saw it because it wasn't on the mantle. When they walked by the living room, the picture that he and Melissa took with Rion when he visited Kirkwall. It was hanging in pride of place, next to the photo of Rion and Ted with their sons in the living room. When he saw it, something in Sebastian's chest tightened up. It was the same way he'd felt earlier, watching Graham sleep.

It felt like it took an age to walk to the guest portion of the house, but when they got there, Sebastian was glad for the relative privacy. They were situated in what looked like its own apartment above the garage bays. The spacious guest quarters came with a small kitchen, a living room and a bedroom with a large bathroom. As Ted told them, their stuff was already there, and the additional clothes sent from the marathon dressing session this afternoon at the palace.

"There's food in the kitchen, liquor in the cabinet and soap in the bathroom. Towels and the like are underneath the sink, and if you need another blanket those are in the closet here as well," Ted said to them, pointing as they went along. "We're really happy both of you have come to stay. Rion raved about going to Kirkwall to see you, but I haven't had the chance to get down there yet."

"I'm only sorry that Graham had to be ill to bring us here," Melissa said, giving him a warm smile. "Thank you for everything, I'm sure we'll be fine. It's been a long day."

"Yes, Ted, Rion, thank you," Sebastian said, speaking up at once. "We'll see you in the morning."

Sebastian, more tired than he knew, sank down into one of the overstuffed armchairs in the living room. When Melissa handed him a glass of whiskey, he drank it down in one. They both needed a drink after today. She accepted his help in unzipping her dress, and though his hands skimmed over the smooth expanse of her back, there was nothing in him to pursue anything passionate tonight. His head hurt and he wanted nothing more than to wake up tomorrow and not be in Starkhaven anymore.


	4. Chapter 4

They were in the guest bed at Rion's, and though she'd woken up next to Sebastian many more times than she could count, she appreciated it more this morning. Maybe because of everything that had transpired yesterday, but it didn't really matter why. He wasn't sleeping next to her but simply laying there resting, his eyes closed but breathing too shallow to be sleeping. Melissa could smell the faint scent of her toothpaste, and knew he'd been up before her. She checked the time on her phone and put it back down immediately.

Mornings weren't her best time, but she woke up early anyway. Sebastian asked once before if it was a habit she couldn't shake off, but she didn't really have an answer for him then. Later, he'd come to realize it was more likely rooted in her anxieties. She was never, ever late if she could help it, she couldn't sleep through things and was hyper-vigilant about time management, traits she hadn't thought to ascribe to being anxious until Isabela pointed it out one day, teasing Melissa as she worried her bottom lip over something of no real consequence. It was just how she was now. Life hadn’t given her enough breaks for her to feel comfortable being late and trusting to the nebulous goodness of people to let her slide.

But it was apparently his turn to be anxious and awake far too soon. At least she wasn’t alone in this feeling today. Sebastian rarely woke before her, and was even less likely to be up before the sun came up. The night before he'd hastily stripped down to his boxer-briefs before collapsing into bed, completely done in by the day they'd had. He appeared to be at ease beside her, long, lean muscled chest and arms just visible as he moved towards her, declaring he was up without saying anything. Whatever the reason, they were both awake and Sebastian hugged her to him, burying his face in the softness of her neck and shoulder as he rolled closer to her. She accepted him, gently wrapping an arm around him and pulling him in as he fitted his body to hers. His feet were like blocks of ice, and she squeaked as they made contact with hers.

"Do we have time before breakfast?" Sebastian asked, his words muffled as he spoke into the shoulder of her pajamas. They weren't really pajamas, because she'd packed for a tropical, private paradise, so she was sleeping in the soft, loose dress that was her swim cover-up.

"Loads. The sun hasn't even come up yet. Did you sleep okay?" she asked.

"Not really," he admitted. They fell silent for a moment, her hand trailing up and down his back in a comforting light drift as they lay together.

"I checked when I first got up and there's quite a few articles about the two of us today. Not all of them are kind," he said gently.

"What do they say?" she asked, knowing she'd probably read a handful for herself later on her phone.

"Most of them are about me and my past, to be honest. A few talk about your family, the reduced circumstances you live in now or especially focus on Gamlen. It's nothing we weren't expecting, but it's still bracing to see it in print."

She thought about that, about what they could possibly say about her family. Quite a lot to be said about the Amell side, if she were truthful with herself. She only hoped that Mother and Bethany were doing well enough, that there weren't people camped outside the apartment or the Amell house where Bethany was busy with the restoration, trying to harass them. Had she thought about it last night, she might have sent the email warning people to a wider net, but as it was she only sent it to her family, Aveline and Isabela. Sebastian had taken care of informing KSE that he'd be in the news and reminding them to stick to their policy of not commenting about their members personal lives. He had the added bonus of being president, so he was the only member authorized to speak to the press about KSE, and he'd told her before they went to bed he had no plans to give any interviews or quotes for them to use.

"You should go back to sleep," she said, and scooted out from under him. "I have the feeling today will be another long day."

She got up to go to the bathroom, reluctantly leaving the luxurious comfort of the overlarge bed. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Melissa went to back to bed, hoping that Sebastian had gone back to sleep. Sebastian could sleep through anything when he wanted to. If he wasn't sleeping, then he was very upset by coming back here, and honestly, she couldn’t blame him. The whole thing was unsettling, especially the way they were forced to come. This unexpected trip to his home, meeting his family and dealing with a crisis all at once left her feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed, and it wasn't her family. She only had sympathy for what her boyfriend must be feeling, though Sebastian had yet to share much of his feelings with her.

Her hopes that he'd gone back to sleep were dashed when she lay down and felt his arm slip around her. He was warmer now, more inviting as he wrapped his strong legs around one of hers, intertwining themselves as much as possible. They lay still together for a while, but Melissa forgot herself. She forgot where they were and started nuzzling into his neck and shoulders like it was any other morning. When they slept together, even before they'd had sex, the mornings were always when they were the most intimate.

Melissa kissed him, brushing lips over his skin, catching the corner of his mouth in a pass before she captured his lips fully. Her kisses were soft, and sweet as peach pie, just as they would have been any morning. It was like they were in her bed or at the KSE house with no time restrictions, as if it were an ordinary, easy morning. When she kissed his jaw, she felt him shift beneath her, moving slightly away from her kisses and Melissa immediately stopped herself. Sebastian normally loved being kissed on the jaw, especially if it lead to kissing his neck, so if he was moving away from her attention, they had a problem.

"I can stop, if you're uncomfortable," she said. "I forgot we weren't at home."

"Do you want to stop?" he asked, and she couldn't make out what he wanted from the sound of his voice. His brogue always deepened when he was aroused, but there was something else mixed with it.

“I think we should go back to bed,” Melissa said, and he snorted.

Sebastian wasn’t normally given to being bad tempered. It was one of the things she loved most about him, he was gentle and kind as a rule. She pushed herself out of the down plushness of the guest bed and looked at him. He wouldn’t meet her gaze, but instead closed his eyes in feigned relaxation that didn’t even begin to fool her.

“You’re tense,” she observed. It wasn’t the most astute observation, people in space could probably have seen the tension in his shoulders, hunched around his ears as they were. “Roll over.” Melissa didn’t need to know him very well to see that he clearly wanted to have sex, but she didn’t, not like this. It would be a distraction, and from the feel of his muscles, probably not even a very good one. Sebastian obeyed her command, rolling onto his stomach so she could have full access to his back. His shoulders were stiff and as solid as granite under her hands. It took her some time to knead the tension from them, and even once she had his muscles feeling more or less human, they weren’t quite limber.

They didn’t talk as she coaxed the tension from his unwilling muscles, but she almost felt like they were communicating. He was so worried, and she could tell that even with his eyes closed and his face half covered by the pillow. There were so many things demanding his attention, worry for his brother, about his parents, and the vast distance that he was expected to span, the one that had come up between him and his family during their time apart. There were other things, she knew, but ones that he hadn’t explained to her, wounds that ran so deep he couldn’t give them voice. This was supposed to have been a relaxing vacation for the two of them, but it had turned into anything but what they’d planned. They should stop making plans altogether, since they never worked for either of them.

She wanted to help Sebastian, but there was only so much she could do without him asking or expressing what he needed. She didn’t know Starkhaven, didn’t understand this life. Kirkwall was a big city-state, but being Lady Melissa there meant almost nothing compared to what being a noble here would mean, even if she were similarly impoverished. Starkhaven had a strange dynamic she didn’t understand that Sebastian was too familiar with to explain properly. In fact, there seemed to be a lot more that Sebastian couldn’t explain or say these days, but once again, she was stymied as she thought of how to remedy the problem. Only time would bring clarity, Melissa decided, and when she dropped back onto the bed beside him, he kissed her once before they both fell asleep again.

#

Sebastian woke up later that morning ready to face it. Being with Melissa, even under these circumstances, made things better and he couldn't deny he felt calmer after her attention this morning. He would have preferred to have sex, but she hadn’t, and he never pushed. She’d come around one of these mornings, but hoping for it the day after their unwilling arrival in Starkhaven might have been a little overly optimistic on his part. He could wait for her to initiate it. Plenty of people had wanted to sleep with him before, and it was flattering, but Lissa was the only person that loved him before they'd slept together. It was strange to make that distinction with all of the people in his past, but it was important to him.

Her love for him would be tested the longer they stayed in Starkhaven. He was thankful their break was only a week long, otherwise he'd worry that they'd be trapped here indefinitely, unable to get out of the viper's nest he'd inadvertently steered them into. There was no mistaking it, he'd plunked both of them down in the middle of it and Sebastian realized how much he didn't fit here. He’d never had a place, so there was no place for him to return to here.

Years ago, before his parents forced him into the military academy or his subsequent exile from Starkhaven, he'd wanted to nothing more than to be in Graham's place. His jealousy was bitter ashes on his tongue, choking him as he watched his brother in the hospital that afternoon. The shame he felt for coveting what had undoubtedly helped Graham into this hospital bed made Sebastian somber as he watched over his brother. He felt the contrition in him as if the Grand Cleric had pulled the confession from the innermost walls of his heart, and the guilt that it brought weighed heavy on him.

They were just stopping by -- Graham was sleeping -- and Sebastian had been summoned by his father to come to the Bank of Starkhaven. Without Lissa at his side, he wasn't sure if he could stand being here this week.

"Get better. I'll come back to check on you tomorrow," Sebastian said, whispering to his sleeping brother. Graham slumbered on, not answering and Sebastian left the hospital room, feeling a little guilty. Yesterday his parents had been there all day, but now it was just Helene sitting with Graham.

When they arrived at the hospital, she'd gone with Melissa to get some food so he could have some time with Graham and give her a break. She'd slept there overnight, the chair in the room with Graham unfolding into a single bed. He'd been sitting in there for a little more than an hour, just watching his brother sleep. Sebastian supposed there were probably things he should be saying, some way he should attempt to smooth out the years and distance between them, but he didn't know how. Graham, for all that they'd been friendly yesterday, wasn't his friend. If Rion had gotten what he'd wanted from their father, he wouldn't have bothered to come to Kirkwall to see Sebastian at all, both of his brothers would have just been happy to have him 'contained' as if he were a contagion of some sort.

But Sebastian didn't have it in him to be nasty as he sat watching his brother attached to so many machines. Not after spending the night at Rion's house and watching his brother desperately trying to make him part of the family, handing over nephews and telling stories about them as babies just so Sebastian could get to know them.

He wanted to be part of his family he just had no idea how to do it.

“Is he awake?” Helene asked in a whisper as she came back into the room. She was holding a cup of coffee and handed it to him as she walked in. He took it and saw Melissa’s hand in the gesture, the light cream and abundance of sugar was just the way he always took it. Helene couldn’t have known how to make it.

“No.” He shook his head to underscore it, but he doubted Helene could see him well in the dim room.

“Lady Melissa’s waiting down the hall,” Helene said, leaning against the wall. For all that she looked casual in her pose, the look she gave Sebastian was anything but. “You know, I like her a lot.”

“She’s amazing,” he agreed, wondering where Helene was going with this conversation. He got the unspoken subtext in the compliment about Melissa, that she was too good for him, and he might have concurred not too long ago. Now, he thought they were just right for each other, but he didn’t betray that thought to Helene.

“I never expected you to settle down, especially not with a Ferelden,” she said with a short laugh. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he simply shrugged.

“We weren’t planning to come back tonight, Father summoned Lissa and I for dinner, but we can if you need a break,” he said. He wanted her to come to her point, to yell at him or whatever she needed to do so he could leave.

She gave that hard, short laugh again. “I read the papers this morning. There was more about you and Melissa than there was about Graham.”

“It’s the first time I’ve been back in years,” he explained unnecessarily, and she finally launched her volley at him.

“Would you have come if His Highness hadn’t redirected your plane yesterday?” she asked. He could sense how much she wanted to hear his answer, that her statement about Melissa was a warm-up to what she wanted to say to him.

“I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t. It’s not like anyone would have called me and told me. But yes, if I had been able to come back on my own, I would have.”

“Why didn’t you come back sooner? You had every chance,” she whisper-hissed, and Sebastian shook his head at her. This wasn’t the place to have this conversation.

“Sebastian was exiled by His Highness in truth. He had to leave Starkhaven. There were orders to seize his passport at the border if he tried to come back and alert the palace guards,” Graham answered for him, his voice creaking with sleep and exhaustion. “I checked.”

“You didn’t believe me?” Sebastian asked, turning towards the bed.

“I knew _you_ believed what you’d been told, but I hadn’t thought he would take it that far. I was wrong. You had no money, no support, and you managed to do well. You’ve excelled and made your own way. Helene, whatever you think he’s been doing for the past couple of years hasn’t been boring enough to make his reality.”

Sebastian had to laugh at that, and a smile crossed Graham’s face as well. His brother closed his eyes again, drained by the exchange. Helene didn’t look at him as he left the hospital room. She was just angry, and while it rankled, he wouldn’t hold it against her. She loved Graham, and Sebastian understood how that it must look convenient to her for him to show up for the first time in years. There was a growing warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with Helene’s confrontation and everything to do with Graham sticking up for him. When they’d argued at Satinalia, he hadn’t expected for Graham to do anything about it, let alone look into his exile. It was strange to know that he had impressed Graham enough to make him curious for answers.

Now he was back in Starkhaven, at least for now, and Sebastian still wasn’t sure what that meant for any of them.

#

Sebastian’s father made time for them at his office. They were driven directly there after the hospital, but in all honesty, Melissa wasn’t sure what else they were supposed to do during the day. She had to suppose his family had plans for them, but she didn’t understand this whole orchestrated visit. They were driven to the Bank of Starkhaven’s main building, given access to the penthouse level private executive offices and then were left sitting in waiting room.

If she hadn’t seen their very real distress over Graham, she might have thought that his illness was just a convenient way for the Vaels to lure Sebastian back to Starkhaven. It certainly felt like his family had business with him that Sebastian either didn’t know about or want to acknowledge. He was nervous, as they sat in the room together, waiting. The blue suit that had been so perfectly neat this morning was looking a little rumpled already, and it wasn’t yet lunchtime. They hadn’t even been there for ten minutes before he started pacing the room. She’d never known him to be a pacer before now.

“I’m sorry this wasn’t the vacation you were expecting,” Sebastian said, turning to her. “It’s not even that warm here.”

“It’s fine,” Melissa lied, because she wasn’t sure what else to say. Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further. It was a little longer than usual now, and more unruly for it. She wanted to stand and put her arms around him, to give him what comfort she could, but right now she wasn’t sure if she could even feign enough calm for him. She settled on saying, “I only wish I were more of a support,” and the sentiment, though it earned her a grateful smile from Sebastian, sounded too saccharine to her ears.

Everything they did here made her realize more and more that she was an outsider. Sebastian was strangely in the middle of all of it, even if he didn’t know it. This morning Helene had questioned her again about Sebastian, interrogating her as they went to get coffee. She’d wanted to know what he was doing in school and after graduation, and if he really wasn’t coming back to Starkhaven. Were they planning to stay together? Melissa had told her so, but Helene hadn’t seemed to believe her, instead insisting that Melissa could get a job and go wherever she wanted, even back to Ferelden.

She wasn’t sure what to make of Helene. Part of her felt as it was just protectiveness, Helene trying to do what she thought was right by another woman, but there was something more than altruism in it as well. Melissa just didn’t know what it was. in the car on the ride over, she’d thought about mentioning it to Sebastian, but she’d kept her mouth shut when he told her about his own encounter with his sister-in-law. Only Rion and his husband felt genuine here, but they were almost as much outsiders as she and Sebastian.

“I once got blown in here. They’ve redecorated since,” Sebastian said, surprising her both with the statement and the nearness of him. She hadn’t seen him drop back into the armchair beside hers, but he was sitting there, leaning forward to speak to her in a hushed tone and looking faintly amused. “My father saw us on the monitor and sent the guards in, and let me tell you three suited guards do not care if you finished or not before they start trying to kick you out.”

She laughed despite herself, knowing that Sebastian had been trying to make her smile with the story. That’s why she was surprised by his next statement.

“I’m going to call the car for you so you can go shopping. I know my mom had clothes for you yesterday, but they look like you’re going to a Chantry school for reformed girls, and believe me, I’ve seen plenty of those uniforms. All the things we packed were for the beach. Go on and waste some money, get your hair done, and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“That’s awfully generous,” Melissa began, but he cut her off.

“No, it isn’t. It’s the right thing to do while we’re here. I should have said it this morning, instead of dragging you to the hospital. You haven’t even met Graham. Besides, I have no idea how long this meeting with my father will take, and you’d just be sitting here, waiting for me again,” he said, and sighed. “I love you, Lissa, I really do. I feel like I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

“You know, I love you too, and I think you’re right,” she admitted, letting her stoic mask drop.

It took only ten minutes for them to set up credit and give her a list of places to shop, and ten more before she found an ‘expert’ in Rivaini hair, promising that they could certainly fit her in for a special today. Maker, being a bank sure did make things happen a lot faster than normal. They gave her an actual credit card with her name on it. Melissa grinned at Sebastian to set him at ease, but didn’t know what she could do to give herself the same relief. All of her still felt jumpy, tired and wary of everything. She half expected to be driven past the stores and to a plane that would take her back to Kirkwall and separate her from Sebastian forever. No, she couldn’t think like that. They needed to not be worried, to have the latitude to figure things out.

In Kirkwall, she wouldn’t think about accepting this decadent distraction from him, even if Sebastian went with her and spent half on himself. Here in Starkhaven, she was several steps behind, and unsettled and neither of them knew the lay of the land. It was better to get some space to breathe before they regrouped.

At least that’s what she told herself as she kissed Sebastian goodbye. He grabbed her wrist as she grazed his cheek and whispered, “Spend ten thousand. My accounts can take it,” before giving her a proper farewell kiss.

She was on her way out when Sebastian’s father came down the hall. He was even more imposing in his sedate grey suit, the color of it echoed in hair that was more shining silver spun than its youthful golden blond; he was completely white at the temples. Maker, he was so imposing, and it was that quality that made her uncomfortable. Even when he wasn’t trying to be acknowledged, she felt his presence, and it was oppressive. They didn’t pass each other, so she didn’t have to make a greeting, but she heard him. She heard him as he asked Sebastian “Where the Amell girl was,” and if he’d “Seen your mother today?”

Of both questions, it was the second one that seemed odd to her, but damn if Melissa knew why. When would they have seen Sebastian’s mother? She chewed her generous lower lip in thought as she was driven through the heart of downtown, not to the airport as she’d feared, but to an upscale department store. The worries and uncertainty that was currently making her so tense she was grinding her teeth together was pushed aside when she saw a shawl that so perfectly fit her mother, she had to buy it.

Never in her life had she been able to indulge in retail therapy before, but she was damn glad for the distraction now. There was two and a half hours for her to fill before her hair appointment and six floors of store. She hoped she had time for lunch.


	5. Chapter 5

“You haven’t given Lady Melissa either one of those rings you requested before Satinalia,” his father said to Sebastian. He smiled at the question, for it was a question even if it had come out a statement. Sebastian settled himself in the chair opposite his father’s desk and brushed nonexistent lint from his suit. His father glanced at his computer in the space before Sebastian answered, and he saw the light of a flickering message on the screen reflected in his father’s eyes. Rodric ignored it, waiting for Sebastian’s answer.

“We’re approaching that point. I have asked formally for her hand, but these things take time,” Sebastian said. The less he said, the better. His father would pick everything apart anyway, but the less fodder he gave him, the easier it would be to defend himself.

But his father surprised him by nodding, a pensive look on his face. His father was the elder version of Orion, without the warmth. “You are faithful. I hadn’t thought to believe it but there has been no sight of you straying. And you say her mother approves, if you’ve received her blessing, what’s the problem?”

Now he was well and truly out of his depth, if his father was offering to help. It should have stung his that the pride that there were guards watching him for fidelity, but in truth he was disappointed in himself he hadn’t realized it before. Sebastian smoothed the bemusement from his face, taking his time to answer before he said, “Lissa doesn’t see marriage on the whole as a union that will be beneficial to her, but she told me to ask her again.” When all the answer he got was a raised eyebrow from his father, he explained quickly, “Her parents marriage, though full of love, had too much hardship. She wonders if it will do the same to her as did to her mother.”

“Ah,” Rodric said, sitting back in his seat and steepling his hands in thought. The light glinted off the emerald in his pinky ring, the one Sebastian’s mother had given him upon their marriage. He hadn’t realized his father still wore it, bearing her house crest on the finger next to his signet ring. “It isn’t easy, what we bear. That’s a worry for you to ease then, in time. I thought you might be waiting for graduation. Cristina won’t be pleased by it, for all that she proclaimed she loved the Amells when I first told her about Lady Melissa. Whatever your mother thinks, I approve of Lady Melissa.”

“Thank you, Your Highness. I love Lissa a great deal.” It was strange to admit to his father, but he had already done so in a myriad of ways, even just bringing her to Starkhaven. What his father made of the bald declaration, he didn’t show Sebastian, but he didn’t make any noise to signal his disbelief either.

It was a heady thing, earning his father’s approval. It had been that night he came to Starkhaven when he first started dating Melissa and it was even more now, made stranger by the fates that had brought him back to Starkhaven. Although his father made sure to credit Melissa whenever he spoke to Sebastian about the future, there was more to it. He was about to graduate, and his father had given him access to his trust fund last year, and helped him with the funds to renovate the apartment they’d move into after graduation. It gobsmacked him when Sebastian realized that his father was treating him with respect for the first time, as much as could be mustered between the two of them.

“I suppose I should get to your accounts, then,” his father said, breaking the silence between the two of them. When his father summoned him, he hadn’t quite known what they would talk about here. This bank had been the place where his father truly lived, and had summoned him here all of his life for the rare praise and the more numerous warnings and reprimands he’d issued. His life was caught up between these walls, an adventure ending when he was called here to face his father and whatever punishment he felt Sebastian deserved.

But today wasn’t for punishment, and that alone surprised Sebastian. There was no rebuke in anything his father did or said, at least no further than his pointed demands that Sebastian “stay on the right path”, which really meant that he did have faith in him, otherwise his father would take the time to spell out the consequences of fucking up. Instead there was discussion of the future, of the resources allocated from Starkhaven for his life and protection, of Sebastian’s expectations and duties to the throne, and of course, of money and how much of it was his own these days.

“There are no more restrictions on your passport, as well. I’ve had them lifted. You may come and go as you please to Starkhaven. I’ve been pleased with how you’re trying to get to know your brothers and Rion, when he will talk to me, has said nothing but good things about Lady Melissa,” his father said. Sebastian was glad he was already sitting back in his seat, one hand gripped the armrest as his father so casually changed his life. He didn’t have the power to formulate a response, at least not one that felt adequate.

 _“Why now?”_ was the question he didn’t give voice to, but it echoed around the room unsaid. It was like a stone had been placed on him, not lifted by it. He knew what he’d done to earn his banishment, but not why it’d been rescinded. He hadn’t actually done anything, not since they’d come to Starkhaven.

He got the feeling that this was why he was really here, regardless of Graham’s health. It had been a chance for his father to evaluate him and Melissa. Surely, he’d had to know that Melissa would come with him to any emergency or crisis that might arise. Here they were, at his father’s whim, and all Sebastian could do about it was get through it. He tried to keep his mouth shut as much as he could, all the better to listen to what his father deemed necessary to say and all the things he didn’t. The prince of Starkhaven hadn’t been pleased that Sebastian had grown as a person, more like he’d been glad Sebastian was the type of person that suited Rodric’s idea of a son better now. His exile had always been nothing but a test, and Sebastian felt a little hollow with the realization.

It was an illuminating few hours, the time passing mostly without interruption, and Sebastian shocked to see that his father had _cleared his schedule_ to meet with him. Sebastian was far, far wealthier by the end of the meeting, but all too aware that much of it hinged on his father’s continued grace. When his father pushed back from the desk, and called for a car, Sebastian thought he was dismissed. But his father surprised him yet again, in a meeting overstuffed with revelations and newly placed expectations.

“Come with me to Tate’s. You’re still a member, as part of the Princely family, and Lady Melissa can join you for dinner. I’ve an appointment there this evening, before I go to see Graham.”

“He was sleeping when we visited this morning, but all seemed well,” Sebastian offered, but his father said nothing in response. It was still afternoon, though it would be time for dinner soon enough. When he checked his phone, Sebastian found no messages from Lissa, which probably meant she was still busy with the impromptu shopping and salon appointments he’d arranged for her. He was glad she was busy, even if he wasn’t with her. This trip wasn’t the peaceful vacation he’d promised her, and though it was no fault of his own, Sebastian still felt like he had to make it up to her. His text to tell her to call him when she could went unanswered, and he got into his father’s car with the same driver he’d had all of Sebastian’s life and rode to Tate’s.

Tate's was a club in Starkhaven, the member's only exclusive kind of social club. The membership was all male, though guests of any gender were allowed for dinner with members. It was the same as it had always been, highly polished brass and wood, decorated with ancient hunting trophies and heavy brocade curtains over arched windows. The tan marble of the entrance hall floor was just as he remembered it, a black compass pointing the way due south into the club itself, marble floor giving way to more of the dark wood that lined the place, and red carpet in some spots. Sebastian wasn’t entirely sure he was still a member despite what his father said earlier. But he went there with his father, who was definitely a member, and there were no eyebrows raised as they were both let into the club. A painting of one of his ancestors looked down at him disapprovingly as Sebastian came in, but that was the only censure he faced and even that was all in his mind.

Lissa still hadn’t called him back, but Sebastian wasn’t worried. His father, though he’d invited him, abandoned Sebastian about three seconds after their coats were taken and strode through the oak paneled halls on his own business. He wasn’t sure where he wanted to waste his time. For all the rooms and distractions, Tate’s was only ever just a place to while away the hours, never the destination for social events. He decided to wait for her call in one of the upstairs social rooms, away from the noisier dining area. While his father went to play snooker and smoke cigars, Sebastian was unexpectedly caught up by people he once knew.

"Is that really you Sebastian?"

Sebastian found the owner of the voice and managed a smile at Bertie Himmel. His dark hair was fashionably unkempt and he was still handsome, though he definitely had the telltale signs of someone that drank too much. Gin blossoms made his face ruddy where the skin had once been porcelain smooth and tawny, but he still had beautiful green eyes. He remembered how a girl called Roseth has fawned over him when they were younger, entranced by those eyes, the dark hair and Bertie’s wildness, driven by excessive amounts of liquor. Without the paunch, Sebastian might have just thought him outdoorsy, but his body had the softness than came from being too fond of drinking over the span of years. Bertie wasn't a bad sort, just a snob, but he and Sebastian hadn't been particularly close either. His father was a wealthy businessman and his mother a bann, so he had some clout to back up his supercilious manners.

"Aye. How are you Bertie?" he asked, just as Bertie came around to slap him on the shoulder.

"Why, I thought you were never coming back! It's been an age since you've been in Starkhaven. What have you been up to?"

"Going to school, getting my engineering degree. Working in Kirkwall. Met the love of my life," Sebastian said, as he checked his silent phone once more. Bertie laughed at the statement. "How are you?" Sebastian asked, repeating the question.

"Ready for a damn drink. Let's catch up. Do you still play snooker as poorly as ever?" he asked, but Sebastian made a face.

"My father's down there; I'd rather not. Let's drink in the library. I should tell Melissa I'll be out for a while though," he said, starting to fish his phone out. Bertie laughed again, and Sebastian didn't like the sound of it. It felt somehow mocking, though there was no audible difference between it and the last inane laugh he'd issued. His text to Lissa wasn’t immediately answered, though the one he sent her driver informed him that “Her Ladyship was still at the salon”. At least that explained her silence.

“She’s still at the salon,” Sebastian said, looking up from his phone when he realized Bertie was waiting for him. Bertie made an understanding and conspiratorial face at him and they ascended the stairs to the library. The room was large, lined with leather-bound books and filled with chairs. They had no problem finding a place to sit, and summoning a waiter to get them drinks. Before Sebastian could really talk to Bertie, another old friend came sauntering by.

"Marc," Bertie called out, and Marc Cléry came over to them. "Sebastian's back," Bertie said, and Marc surprised Sebastian with a hug. He had known Marc better than Bertie, but they weren't good friends either, at least they hadn’t been. Marc was half Rivaini and Orlesian, and was tall, broad-shouldered and elegant and had aged much better than Bertie. He looked more mature, but not much older than the last time they’d seen each other. He had lighter skin than Melissa, but it was in the same family of rich browns, underscored by a reddish gold. Marc seemed to have prospered while Bertie languished.

"I didn't realize you all even knew I was gone," Sebastian admitted with a half-laugh. It felt silly to say aloud, but he had wondered when he heard from no one while in Kirkwall.

"Of course we did. When you left, it was like all of the good times went with you. I had hoped you were having a good time in Orlais though," Marc said. Had they not heard then, or had his indiscretion in the past just not been that big of a deal here? Sebastian decided to skip over it, just so he wouldn’t have to explain his continued absence from Starkhaven.

"I wound up in Kirkwall, at Tech. I'm studying to be a civil engineer," Sebastian said, hoping it was suffice as an explanation.

"And he's fallen in love," Bertie teased, to which Marc raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t exactly a skeptical thing, but he felt the disbelief behind it.

Sebastian laughed sheepishly. This too was a story he hadn’t intended to tell again, not to people outside of his family. His phone remained silent as he thought of a way to explain Melissa in shorthand. There really wasn’t one, not just because of who she was and the position her family held, but because Sebastian wasn’t quite sure how to accurately describe the love of his life. The best he could come up with after a beat too long of silence was, "She goes to Tech too, and we've been together for a year. She should meet me for dinner here, if I get through to her anytime soon.”

He was saved from having to save more by the drinks arrival at the table, a nondescript man in Tate’s red and grey delivering them without flourish. It was just enough of an intrusion that it permitted the subject to change, sparing Sebastian queries about Melissa. He knew they’d seen her on the news the night before, or more likely on their phones in the morning. They were just curious, but Sebastian was tired of answering questions about their relationship. He’d had enough of that with his family.

"I saw the news about the Crown Prince, your brother, and I'm sorry. Is that why you're back in town?" Marc asked and Sebastian nodded. “How’s he doing?”

"Graham's recovering well. I saw him today."

"Oh right, I should have figured that was why you're here. But now that you are, you're staying, aren't you?" Bertie asked, but Sebastian shook his head.

"Not for long. Still in school and all of that,” he said, answering Bertie but then turning to Marc. “Where did all of your hair go, Marc? Last time I saw you it was almost all the way down your back."

Marc grinned at him and ran a hand over his gleaming, bald head. His left hand bore a wedding band Sebastian noticed, but he had no idea who Marc had married. "Locs hold onto a lot of energy. When I needed to change mine a few years back, I let them go."

“So no one could try to swing you around by your hair again?” Sebastian asked, bringing up an old scuffle that Marc had once gotten into. They all laughed, Bertie belatedly, and Sebastian was sure he didn’t remember the incident in question. Marc drained his drink and Sebastian spoke up again.

"How have you been?" Sebastian asked, and Marc grinned at him

"Busier than ever. I have a consulting business. This is the first time I've been back in Starkhaven in months. Let me get a fresh drink and I'll tell you all about my last trip to Antiva City," Marc started, and turned to motion at one of the ever-present waiters that stood around the room for just such an occasion.

Time spooled out in front of him and he realized with a start, that he had nothing to do but wait for Melissa and drink until dinner with his friends. It felt so good, it was such a needed break. Sebastian sat back and took a sip of the very good brandy and closed his eyes. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed this until he came back to it. It really wasn't the same in Kirkwall at all. Kirkwall had other charms, though he was loathe to admit how unsure he was about how it would hold up in the future. There were doubts looming in the back of his mind about how his life there would go after graduation. The buffer of Tech and KSE and Melissa did much to soothe the sting of living in Kirkwall, away from the ease and relative splendor of the life he was immediately nestled back into upon his return to Starkhaven.

Here he was a prince. Still a prince, despite all of his doubts and his parents threats over the years, he still had his title, his birthright here in Starkhaven. People had to address him as ‘Your Highness’, and treat him with respect here. Even his father seemed mollified, in a strange turn of events. In Kirkwall he'd be a recent graduate with an uncertain future and a girlfriend that didn't want to marry him yet.

#

She sometimes forgot that the discipline that lay in Sebastian was that of a priest, not a prince. Every time Melissa forgot that fact, the universe conspired to remind her what her man really was. There was formality from his princeliness, from his life before but also from the military training he’d received. Boarding schools were the first refuge of wealthy parents with unruly offspring, and his subsequent military service to Starkhaven were captured in his fast reflexes and the quicksilver of his mind when it came to memorizing the layout of a room or repeating things that had just been said. The priestly patience came later, the way he’d learned to keep his own confidence with a smile on his face, private thoughts never betrayed, the way he forgave people to bring them peace, and in the stillness that made itself comfortable in him. Melissa saw all of this warring within him that night.

There was something else in him too, the privilege of a prince of Starkhaven, a wildness that resided in his blood. It called to him, and she’d seen glimpses of it when he was with her, but he mostly kept it in check in Kirkwall. Here, she saw Sebastian struggling to remember what man he wanted to be, even as he kept his face schooled not to show any hint of his inner turmoil. It wasn’t something she knew how to respond to, other than the fact that there was an answering yearning within herself that she kept pushing away. She had responsibilities, and neither of them were free.

She met him for dinner after her day out alone. Summoned by a text message, she’d gone back to Rion’s house to dress for dinner. It had been early when he’d started calling her, only mid-afternoon, but by the time she made it to the stately entrance portico of Tate’s, they were well within dinnertime. It was a good thing she didn’t have to try to do her own hair or nails, the two things that she’d treated herself to at the salon today. She’d had a hard enough time finding shoes to wear.

Sebastian’s last text to her had been: _Wear something red._

Melissa was of half a mind not to grant his request, just because it wasn’t her thing to be dressed up like a doll. But she knew that he thought the color suited her, and just that afternoon she’d bought a red skirt and white angora sweater, soft and fuzzy but with short sleeves. She’d found it on sale, since winter clothes were going out of season, and the red skirt was appropriate for cocktails and swingy, with a bow sash to tie the waist. It was lovely when she put it on, but more importantly she felt pretty wearing it, as if she could go to dinner with Sebastian or her mother and impress both of them. So she wore it, and saw the look on his face when she walked into the restaurant part of the private club.

Carver was the tall one in the family. Despite her protests, Melissa knew she was only average in the height department, and people often thought her short because she was small otherwise. Bethany was shorter and curvier, with her natural figure an hourglass slightly heavier on top. Mother was made the same way, though she was still an inch shorter than Bethany. When Melissa wore heels, she was elevated four inches and felt actually tall for once in her life, though there still would have been a head of space between her and Carver. Sebastian however, would be just a few inches taller and she liked looking into his eyes as she had on the night of his formal. They didn’t dress up often enough, though she liked the picture they made together when they did.

When she was led into the dining room at Tate’s, people turned to look. Sebastian stood when he saw her coming, a hand deftly buttoning the jacket of his navy suit as he rose to greet her. The room was hardly quiet, but she thought she could hear the whisper of the red taffeta of her skirt as it brushed just above her knees. The look on Sebastian’s face was like watching a moonrise, not as showy as a sunrise, but more beautiful for the rarity of being appreciated. His smile made her breath catch in her throat, and when he leaned in for a kiss, neither one was recovered enough to speak. There was always banked heat between the two of them, the attraction that started long before he caught her bored at a party with a beer bottle listlessly hanging from one hand. It was the spark that made them notice each other in the first place, the one that made her smile at him before she cared to remember his name, the one that made him watch her walking out of class.

“Lissa,” Sebastian said, pulling back slightly from her cheek and taking her hand in his. “These are my friends, Marc and Bertie.” His words weren’t slurred, Sebastian could hold his liquor, but there was a touch of deliberation about them, as if he to work to form them correctly. That and his empty glass made her careful. Sebastian didn’t drink so much at home, not since they’d gone to that wedding last summer.

“It’s lovely to meet you both,” she said, and settled into the seat next to Sebastian. The one called Bertie stared at her as if she’d spoken backwards Tevinter and prophesied that she would drink the sea. Marc was quicker, mouth quirking into a smirk as he took her hand to kiss it.

“Lady Melissa,” he murmured as he released her hand, spreading an amused look between her and Sebastian. Bertie finally greeted her with a cooler nod, his look of wonder passed and was assessing her in silence. She thought she read him lightly and ventured again.

“I know, I don’t look anything like the photos they used on the internet anymore. It’s just that I rarely have them taken,” she said, and forced a small laugh. Whether it was false or not, it made Bertie’s laugh join hers and she could feel the tension between the four of them begin to ease. “And my uncle really is in prison,” she added.

The last part got a true laugh this time, and Sebastian squeezed her knee under the table. It was just dinner, and it was a reprieve from the family dinner she thought she’d have to endure tonight. Marc was still studying her through heavy-lidded dark eyes, but Bertie looked away as she tried to make eye contact. She picked up the drink Sebastian ordered for her instead, and devoted her attention to the menu. The cool, clean taste of gin, tonic water and lime filled her tongue as she looked down at the food on offer. The first thing that caught her eye was the Starkhaven fish pie, but she decided against it and went on perusing. Bertie started to talk again after the silence went on too long, his comments directed at Marc, not her.

Sebastian’s hand drifted a little further up her thigh as she paged through the menu, past the hem of her skit. Melissa bit back her smile as she made her selection.

#

Dinner was enjoyable enough, once Sebastian’s friends got used to her presence, with food and drink making it all easier. They laughed a lot, like as not at Bertie’s awkwardness, but he took it good-naturedly and made a few jokes at his own expense. As it turned out, Bertie was regularly tongue-tied when he met someone new that he found attractive, which was the source of Marc’s amusement when she arrived. There was an undercurrent between Bertie and Sebastian that she didn’t quite understand, something that tinted their interactions that didn’t come up between Marc and Sebastian, but Melissa could guess at it. She was almost certain that Sebastian had slept with Bertie at some point, though neither of them were gauche enough to mention it at dinner.

It was a strange thing to be confronted by the past in this way with him, after so many warnings in Kirkwall. He’d told her how his life had been, the disillusionment and loneliness that fueled every party that he’d found for himself. While she’d shared the tales of her impoverished upbringing, he’d told of her the glitter that dulled and how he’d lost himself before he’d reached manhood, in a haze of vice and lust and negligence. While Melissa had scraped and stolen to survive, bartering sex with farmers for food, Sebastian had been leisurely bedding friends, enemies and everything between just for the attention and the forgetfulness that release provides.

Bertie didn’t look lovesick, just overawed, but there was a strangeness between him and Sebastian that Melissa couldn’t pin down. It was in the past, but damn if she wasn’t curious. Jealousy didn’t prick her often, but in Starkhaven she’d started to feel it getting under her skin. Today as she’d shopped, people had stopped to talk to her, to question her about Sebastian, to make veiled comments they thought were clever. She’d nearly called Varric in the middle of it, just to complain about the snooty Starkhaveners, but Melissa let the thought go soon after it occurred to her. She hadn’t the time to complain, not really, nor the privacy. Sebastian’s past followed him like a bride’s train here and she was the fool standing at the altar with no notion how far back it went.

But Melissa didn’t let her disquiet interrupt their meal, and soon Bertie was vying for her attention all to himself. After the food was gone, Marc excused himself from the group to meet up with his spouse, and Sebastian turned to her. They didn’t have plans for the evening that were set, and the Prince of Starkhaven had already departed Tate’s to visit Graham at the hospital. Close to sober now after their dinner, Sebastian gave her a leading smile as he asked, “Are you ready to go back to Rion’s?”

In her marrow, she knew it wasn’t his intention to go home early and to bed, unless he’d planned to keep her up for hours yet, but she went along with it. He had something in mind, but no wish for Bertie to see it. Bertie’s face fell as she answered, “Yes, we should get back there.” Sebastian took her hand and cupped it to his cheek, looking for all the world as if he were ignoring everyone but her, but she knew he wasn’t.

“I could see if anything is going on tonight,” Bertie tried, but Sebastian didn’t even turn to him to shake his head.

“Liss and I got up early to see Graham,” he explained. She was still cupping his cheek and he kissed the palm of her hand absently before she drew it back. “And I’ve not see Her Highness today, so I should check in with my mother.”

That she knew was a lie, but said nothing. She stood, and waited while Sebastian handed her purse over and buttoned up his suit jacket once more. The chain that had the Chantry sunburst on the end glinted under the dim lights from the paneled ceiling above them, and Melissa smiled. With his tie loosened and hair messy, Sebastian still looked surpassingly handsome. He held out a hand to her and then said, “Can we give you a lift home, Bertie?”

“Oh, yes, I suppose I should get on. I’ve been here for hours. Right, okay, thanks,” Bertie said, surprised by the invitation, but unwilling to turn it down. If Sebastian hadn’t asked, Bertie would likely have stayed comfortably at Tate’s drinking until they shoved him into a taxi.

Sebastian gave her his coat check ticket, then went to the facilities, while she and Bertie waited for their coats and car to arrive. Bertie kept up a genial bit of useless conversation, the two of them talking about Ferelden wheat prices of all things, until they were handed their coats. The doorman helped her into her coat, and then held Sebastian’s at the desk for him. Bertie beckoned her slightly away and bent his head to her.

“You aren’t at all what I was expecting, my lady,” he admitted in a rush of breath that smelled more like brandy than the chicken he’d had for dinner.

“How so?” she asked, tipping her head to the side.

“Younger for one. There were plenty of people our year that wanted him, and Sebastian had as many as he could, but he loved stepping out with older women. I think it was a competition with his brothers, of a kind. But you’re also sweeter than I would have guessed. You’re a rose, and he was always more interested in wild things.”

“Roses grow wild,” she countered, making him laugh.

“Yes, but they always have thorns. You can’t pluck them unprepared,” Bertie returned, giving her a sly look before his attention was taken elsewhere. His eyes focused on a spot behind her, and Sebastian stepped out to join them. His collar was loose and tie gone, taken off and rolled up in one hand. Combined with his rumpled suit, Sebastian looked like he’d broken out of Tate’s instead of leaving from a quiet dinner with friends. He was helped into his coat as she had been, and then they were outside in the cold, getting into the car and Bertie didn’t say more about his assessment of her. He watched them, she saw him and wondered what about them held his attention even as he tried to pretend otherwise.

They were silent after giving the address where Bertie lived to the driver. He stayed with his parents, and Melissa chose not to ask who they were, but the driver knew where they were going at once.

“There’s a party this week, on Thursday night,” Bertie said, looking down at his phone briefly and back at them with a smile. “At Janiel’s place.”

Sebastian had been studiously ignoring Bertie since they got in the car, pulling Melissa possessively to his side, but doing no more than keeping his hand at her waist. His fingers drummed softly on her ribs, itching with the desire to do more. Bertie looked up at them, his face wreathed in the unflattering blue light of the screen. “It’s invite only,” he added, as if to clear things up for them.

“We won’t be here for very long,” Sebastian said, dismissing the invitation.

“Who’s Janiel?” she asked.

“A friend who owns a club here and throws private parties,” Sebastian answered, neatly sidestepping the question with a direct answer. Melissa scowled at him and he kissed her hand, smoothing his thumb over the imprint of his lips in consolation.

They began to talk in low voices, not so low that Bertie couldn’t hear them, but so that only a few words were audible to him on the other side of the backseat. Sebastian asked, sotto voce, about her day and she answered him in the same tone, aware that they weren’t alone. Berite sulked until the car stopped at a light, then went back to his phone.

“Did you want an invitation?” Bertie asked eagerly, and Sebastian sighed before conceding.

“Sure, send it to my phone.”

“I need the number,” Bertie said. He was excited, she could see it in the way his fingers tripped over the screen, trying to accomplish too many things at once. Sebastian gave Bertie his number, and then returned to her in his campaign of whispers. She felt his phone buzz in his pocket, but Sebastian paid it no mind.

The ride to Bertie’s house didn’t last much longer, thank the Maker, and their guest was out of the car with his inebriated thanks trailing from his lips. He promised to text Sebastian later, or if anything interesting was going on in the city. The words were almost a promise that if Bertie couldn’t find something, he’d manufacture an event to Sebastian’s taste. When he departed, Sebastian ordered the driver to go around the city on a slow tour, so “Lady Melissa could see it at night.”.

“What was going on?” she asked, confused and more than somewhat aroused by Sebastian’s whispers and impatient fingers.

“Bertie likes to watch. He’s a voyeur. He was waiting for me to do something with you so he could put his hands down his pants.”

Melissa laughed, but Sebastian was serious and didn’t take it up. “So he’s seen you fuck someone before?”

“More than once. But I have no taste for that tonight, and,” he trailed off, seeming to struggle with what to say next. Sebastian looked away from her, biting his lower lip as he composed an answer. “You aren’t a showpiece. I love you. If that’s what you want, it won’t be with Bertie in a car on a whim. Janiel throws members only orgies. I used to go. I can take you, but we’ve never talked about it before. It needs to be your choice to explore those types of venues.”

“Oh,” Melissa said, and fell back against the seat, thinking. Her mind spun with all he’d told her, but it made sense. “You made the right decision. I had wondered all through dinner, what was between the two of you.”

“Usually another person, but that’s to his preference,” Sebastian said shrugging. He was uneasy, and she felt it in him as he held her to him, the grip casual to outward appearances but his arm was steel around her.

“What happened between you and your father today?”

Sebastian didn’t answer at first, making a pinched face before he came back to her. “He lifted my exile formally, gave me a lot more money and told me he was proud of me.”

She sat back in his grip and thought on that, truthful the statement may have been, she felt like Sebastian was once again leaving things out by telling her no details of the truth. Lies by omission are still lies, and she didn’t like it. Melissa always preferred the truth when available; veracity was the clean cut that healed quick, but understood the necessity of lies. This wasn’t her place to push, so she instead sought to give.

Lust came easily to Sebastian, because he had worshipped it as surely as he had come to worship the Maker and his bride while at the Chantry and he had paid more fervent homage to lust over the years than Andraste. He abjured physical pleasure once, seeking a deeper connection that what came so easily to him, only letting it into their relationship on a short leash. He taught himself to show love in other ways, to say it, to share what he had, to tend to others, but she knew that touch was how he received love best, and that Sebastian craved touch in times of turmoil. She’d felt him trying to calm himself at dinner, the hand that skimmed up her bare thigh, past the lace of her stockings and then back down to her knee again.

Carefully, she undid his fingers from around her, loosening his grip and scooting out of it. Sebastian watched as she moved away from him, out of the fence of his arm but not out of reach. She took his hand in hers. “What’s the slow tour of Starkhaven?” she asked, but she had a feeling she knew already.

“He’s going to keep driving until I ask them to stop, but otherwise won’t lower the partition unless there’s a problem.” Then he chuckled softly, his face taking on the mere hint of a grin. “And I bet you know why I’d ask for that.”

“I do, especially since I stopped you this morning,” Melissa said. She deliberately took his hand and put it on her thigh, higher than her knee but not far under her skirt. “There’s no reason to stop now.” She moved into his touch, forcing his hand higher, and waited. His breath caught, and she could hear it perfectly in the moving car, over the purr of the engine and the street noise that somehow permeated the tinted windows to get inside.

He unhooked her garters, first one and then the other, and then they were kissing. It was a hard mash of teeth and lips, of need chased with desire and frustration. Both coats were discarded into a heap, and her panties followed. Sebastian wanted her to see the city through the rearview window, watching as it faded into the distance, while he sat beneath her. First he claimed her with his mouth, teasing her clit from the first flush of arousal into the the full flower and then sucking on it to make her come faster. On her knees, she saw a blur of lights through the window as Sebastian’s mouth worked beneath her. She rode his face in the spacious backseat, holding up the red silk of her skirt so she could watch him from above. His fingers parted the slick black curls between her legs, seeking as they plunged inside of her. When he found the spot that made her gasp, he sucked harder and felt the dangerous quiver of her oncoming climax.

She’d felt it too, and part of her wanted to cry because this had been too fast, but the rest of her couldn’t wait. When he sucked harder, Melissa looked down at him as his eyes opened to meet hers and she came hard, wailing softly, bucking into the curved crest of the backseat as Sebastian’s fingers fucked her harder. He took it all, neverminding when she locked her thighs around his ears and shook them both with the force of her orgasm.

There was no quiet languor after her orgasm, but more heat and fury, as Sebastian pulled himself from his suit trousers, cock at full mast. Where Melissa fell ungainly down to the softness of the seat, Sebastian moved up to sit properly in it and they met in the middle. When she sat on him, she took him in one and they both cried out with the suddenness of it, but it was a welcome joining on both sides. They set a swift pace, both of them needy, hungry and unsure of what lay outside of their moving haven. She grasped at the wrinkled front of his shirt, suit jacket now gone into the heap of clothes around them, and moved her hips in the instinctive rhythm they set together, rocking with him meeting her with a surge of his own on her downbeat.

Sweat beaded on her back and she hitched in time slightly as she pulled off her soft white sweater with one hand, exposing breasts already pushed out from the lace confines of her bra. Sebastian took a hard nipple in his mouth eagerly, pressing a hand to her back to bring her forward, still thrusting up into her. Abstractly, she was reminded that he had experience with just this situation, but the thought fled her as she broke again into another, softer climax.

The second orgasm she had made Sebastian’s come on quicker, and soon she felt him fighting against it, breath blowing like a lathered horse. He fought to last longer, but in the end he tumbled forth just as she had, coming hard with a muttered torrent of curses until the power of it rendered him silent. He laughed when he was finished, tipping his head back against the cushions, relief and warmth in it as she stayed atop him. Slowly, absently, he kissed her nipple, all sweet, soft lips before pulling the lace cups of her bra back into place and running his tongue over the whole thing. She shivered and felt him stir within her.

“You’re making me relive the past, only better. I didn’t come like that when I was nineteen.”

“It’s different this time,” Melissa said, and he nodded. She didn’t think he knew what she meant so she added, “You’re safe with me.”

He pulled her forehead to his and kept her there. They stayed like that until he looked up at her and whispered, “We need to go home, Liss. I want to go home.”

“We will. Soon.” And they would, soon as their business in Starkhaven was finished. If only she knew what business it was, she might conclude it quicker. She could wait. The truth would come in time.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Sebastian woke up with a kiss. She clearly hadn’t meant to wake him, because she moved away before he could pull her back, before his drowsy, heavy eyelids could open fully. So he lay there, still half-sleep but not quite enough to fall back into it and watched Lissa move around the room quietly as she got ready for breakfast. They’d come in after their ride around town the night before, exhausted and quiet. He’d been glad they had their own entrance so he didn’t have to face his brother or Ted. His head was full of the kind of confusion that he hadn’t realized he’d left behind in Starkhaven until he’d come back here and Sebastian’s not at all gladenned by its return.

This place managed to feel like home and fill him with a sense of otherness all at once. Last night while he was inside of his girlfriend, Sebastian realized he’d always been a stranger here. That truth had filled his head until he couldn’t take it anymore and dropped off to sleep with Melissa’s legs twined between his own. The night before he’d slept, but it wasn't pleasant. Being back in Starkhaven dislodged too many memories, too many feelings of isolation and loneliness that stemmed from his childhood. He had confused, sad dreams. Sebastian jerked awake from nightmares more than once, and battled hopelessness as well as fatigue all night because he was finally here, and it was still unprepared for it even after being in Starkhaven for days. Maker, he woke up this morning feeling like a stack of bricks weighed down his chest and cotton wool wrapped his head. Needless to say, he didn’t have a restful night.

Sebastian was in no hurry to leave bed, so he watched Lissa get ready, pulling on a dress he hadn’t seen before and putting on sandals that were definitely new. She unwrapped them with a reverential sigh, taking them out of a cloth travel bag that had housed them in her luggage. All of the things she’d meant to take to Rivain were still in there, new and likely to be unworn until summer. While it was warmer here than in Kirkwall for the moment, it wasn’t the lush tropical climate of Rivain where he could have worn shorts and no shirt without an issue. Guilt thundered through him as she put her shoes on. He really did owe her a better vacation one of these days. Maybe after graduation he’d take her someplace and they’d do nothing but whatever they wanted to do, no interruptions, family or distractions to keep them from enjoying themselves.

She didn’t put a bra on as she slipped the dress over her head and straightened it in the mirror, a fact that made heat rise in a cock he was far too exhausted to use properly. If he had slept soundly the night before, he’d pull that dress right off her of and suck on those pretty tits until she couldn’t take it anymore, ‘til her nipples shone like polished tiger eye from the attention of his mouth and the sweetness between her thighs was dripping wet and begging for him. He could see her in his mind now, whimpering and needy underneath him, the beautiful sound of her keening as he put a hand between her legs to feel how slick he’d made her, the wetness of the curls guarding her entrance and the heady smell of her arousal and anticipation before he put his fingers and tongue to work.

Great, now he was hard and she’d just walked out the door, careful to shut it quietly because she’d thought he was still asleep. Sebastian rolled over, regretted it instantly when his oversensitive dick ground into the mattress and groaned into her cool pillow. Whenever they didn’t go out, she didn’t put on a bra. It wasn’t anything new, but today, in Starkhaven, that simple gesture game him ideas. He either needed to jerk it or get on with his day, and he knew she wasn’t wearing a bra. If he took care of it himself, Sebastian would just be testy all day, deprived of the release he’d dreamed of with her. No, he’d go down to breakfast, and after coffee, he’d see if he could get her to come back to bed.

He was crazy about Lissa, he knew that, and being here seemed to magnify all the things they hadn’t yet done together. Things he’d enjoyed in the past, but never with her and now Sebastian couldn’t wait to show her. Would she be into some of the things he enjoyed? They had a relatively vanilla sex life, though it was enthusiastic from both sides, but he’d experienced enough to know what he liked. What had felt like enough together in Kirkwall seemed to mock him here, his past echoing out of every corner, with his own memories and Bertie’s invitation to orgies reminding him of what he once was.

Now he wasn’t sure about anything, only that he needed to get up and find Lissa. His hand wouldn’t do for him what she could, and he’d only be dissatisfied with thoughts of her when he could easily pull her back between the stark white sheets in the guest house. With a plan in mind, he got up, dressed in a pair of Tech sweatpants and a t-shirt just this side of fitted, and went to Rion’s breakfast room with his mind on Melissa. That was why he wasn’t prepared when he entered a scene of complete chaos, of a screaming baby, a nanny he hadn’t realized his brother employed, a toddler running around, and Melissa, Rion and Ted in the middle of it all. She was holding the screaming baby Mervis on her hip, jiggling the baby to calm him. As Sebastian came in the door, Boots ran towards it, making a break for freedom on unsteady legs. Sebastian closed it quickly behind him and scooped up the child, who babbled at him as if to complain. Only a few words of each sentence were actual words, but Boots wanted to go outside.

He had no idea what to say to a toddler, especially not one vibrating with the desire to go outside. He settled for saying good morning to his nephew, who giggled at him adorably. Oh. This was why Melissa went big-eyed and mushy whenever they talked about having babies. Sebastian felt himself smiling at the nonsense babble of his nephew, who’d hooked a hand into Sebastian’s shirt and was pulling him closer. Sebastian wished he wasn’t quite so close when Boots used his other hand to wipe his nose and then reached it out towards Sebastian. Then Boots shouted in his face and decided to try to climb down his uncle so he could get to outside.

“Oh, you’re awake. Lady Melissa said you were still sleeping. Do you want breakfast?” Ted asked, taking the dribbling toddler from Sebastian as he came over. His brother-in-law gave him a tired smile, but he was surprised by how genuine it was. “There’s plenty of food.”

“Good morning, Ted. Coffee would be good.” Sebastian returned the grin, and waved at Boots, who ignored him to shout at his father.

“I just made some,” Rion said, raising his voice to be heard over the still-crying Mervis. Melissa had begun pacing with him.

“You two go eat. We’ll get them settled,” Ted said, and waved him towards the food. Sebastian went over to kiss Melissa good morning and then dropped a kiss on the top of the baby’s head as well, just before Melissa handed him off to Rion.

“Did you meet Jody? This is my brother Prince Sebastian,” Rion said as he started to bounce his crying son to quiet. “She’s from Ferelden too.” No doubt repeating what he’d just told Melissa about the robust looking tall redhead that had just come back into the room with a box of baby wipes.

Jody waved a baby wipe at him in greeting and Sebastian took the offering so he could clean up his shirt. Melissa grabbed his hand and led him towards the food and coffee, the scent of it rising as they drew closer to it and further from the chaotic children. Once they were behind the closed door, the sounds of the other room blessedly muffled, he really kissed her good morning. Melissa leaned into him, kissing him with a fervor he hadn’t expected. Her tongue swept into his mouth, turning what he’d intended to be a teasing kiss into a devouring one. Her hand raked through his hair, the other on his neck. A noise like a bell sounded on the other side of the door, and he hoped for the sake of his head that Boots wasn’t going to start pumping out the baby jams on the multi-colored xylophone.

Melissa was eagerly responding to his kiss, pressing herself up against him. He didn’t want to pull away, she was quickly reminding him of why he’d come to the house in the first place and it wasn’t breakfast. Melissa, molten hot in his hands and unexpectedly responsive, was everything he needed. Slipping a hand up her side, he cupped one breast and started teasing it through the fabric. Unbound, there was nothing but the soft cotton of her dress between her nipple and his finger and it was already hard when he found it. Her moan was caught on their kiss and made him shudder straight to his toes. He was planning their escape when another door, one apparently not from the kitchen opened and a voice clearing their throat behind him forced them apart.

“Good morning, Sebastian. I see not much has changed in the way you like your breakfasts.”

“Morning, mama. I didn’t expect you here. You look lovely today,” Sebastian said, turning to face her with no hint of guilt. The time when he would have flushed red or stammered after being caught with someone were long gone, but he wasn’t going to let her shame Melissa. “Lady Melissa and I were just getting to breakfast.” They both made their obeisance to his mother, Melissa executing a neat curtsy that would have made Leandra proud. He didn’t have to, since they weren’t in public, but he did it just the same so Melissa couldn’t be found at fault for being too casual. His mother nodded her acknowledgement at them.

“I see,” his mother said, and then nodded at Melissa. “It’s good to see you again, dear. What an interesting dress.”

“Good morning, Your Highness. Your own sartorial choices inspired me, ma’am,” Melissa returned, and he didn’t bother to hide his smile at her response. His mother was just testing her, and though it wasn’t fair, he knew Melissa wasn’t going to start crying about it. “Your Highness, to what do we owe the pleasure of your presence, if I may ask?” she asked.

“I came to invite my dear son, oh and you too, of course Lady Melissa, to lunch today. There’s a group that I chair, and we have a luncheon today. It’s sort of a shopping and lunch fundraising event, and I would so like to spend some time together while you’re here.”

“That sounds lovely, doesn’t it Sebastian?” Melissa said, answering before he could even start turning over the invitation in his head.

“What group is this, mama?”

“The Heart Health Education Society. I’m actually on my way over now to oversee the set up, but I wanted to invite you two in person. It’s just for a few hours at lunch, but I won’t be available for dinner tonight and tomorrow I leave for Orlais,” Cristina explained.

“I can see why it would be important to you, and it sounds like a worthy cause. We’d love to come,” Melissa said, answering for him. Sebastian wasn’t sure what was going, but Melissa was more in control than he was. His erection refused to die down, though his mother was standing on the other side of the room, and he wasn’t exactly wearing the best clothes to hide it.

His mother and Lissa exchanged a look he couldn’t read, an understanding passing between them. The moment was so fleeting he might have imagined it, because Melissa’s face took on a polite grin and his mother started to talk again without any shift in her demeanor. What exactly was happening here?

“Fantastic. I’ll send the car for you at 11:30. I’m so glad you’ll be coming, Sebastian. You’ll be at my table, of course, so we’ll have time to talk at lunch.”

Though he couldn’t hide what was still a semi-erection, he went over to kiss his mother goodbye before she could leave in a flash of perfume and the rustling of silk. His mother waited for his kiss, and then held out her arm. “Walk me to the car, Sebastian.”

“Thank you for the invitation, Your Highness,” Melissa called after them. His mother turned to give her a wave and then started to leave. When he turned around, Lissa mouthed something at him. _Meet me in our room._ He certainly would.

“I got to kiss Mervis on the way in but Boots had to be cleaned up, so I’ll have to come back to see him,” his mother said as they walked out. “Rion usually has the nanny bring them over to the palace, once a week, but with him not working and with Graham being ill, I haven’t seen them in what feels like ages. What’s a grandmother to do?” she sighed, giving him a small smile before continuing, “But it is good to see you home again, my darling.”

“It’s strange being back,” he admitted, as he held the front door open for her. His mother slid through it and then waited for him to join her again. The car was as close to the door as possible, but there was a stone walkway to the porte cochere. His mother took his arm as they walked in slow, deliberate steps towards the idling car and driver.

“I suppose it is. But graduation is on the horizon and you’ll be able to leave Kirkwall for good and come back here where you belong. I suppose the Lady Amell would like her daughter to remain in Kirkwall, but it isn’t so far away.”

Sebastian started at the statement, unexpected as it was. For one, had hadn’t been aware his mother knew about his apartment, save for in a roundabout way. But secondly, he was surprised she’d think he was going to come back to Starkhaven. He wasn’t renovating an apartment in Kirkwall just for a pied a terre, he was going to live there. “Mama, we’re staying in Kirkwall. Lissa’s going to live with me there. We’ve picked out tiles.”

She patted his arm as if he were sadly mistaken and she hated to disabuse him of his quaint notions. “Kirkwall’s a miserable place to live, Sebastian. I know that you have a property there, but mark my words, you’ll be glad to use it as income and move back here before too much time is out.”

“Mama, be nice to Lissa. I love her, you can see that can’t you?” he asked, and when his mother simply raised her eyebrow at him, he went on. “She’s been everything this past year.”

“Have you also been everything _to her_ , Sebastian? Don’t sigh at me. I will treat her as I’d treat any member of a visiting noble family.”

“Do better than that. Treat her like the woman I’m going to marry,” he said, surprising himself with the depth of conviction in his voice. His mother gave him a tired look.

“I’ll be sure to make her welcome at the luncheon. Now I have to go, do have your girlfriend dress appropriately, won’t you?”

The door of her car was opened by the driver and she got in, giving him in quick wave before she took out her phone to check her messages. Just as he was waiting to see the car leave, she rolled down the window. “Expect the car at 11:30 sharp, Sebastian. I’ll be busy, since I am the chairwoman but I’ll have time to dine with you.”

With that his mother drove off, and Sebastian skipped going back through the house and went around the pool to their guest house, thinking on what must have really brought his mother to Rion’s house that morning. She could have easily sent the invitation over with an assistant or called him, but she’d come in person. He told himself it was because she wanted to see him, she wanted him there and had to ask herself, but deep down, he wasn’t sure if that was true or not. Her invitation, much like her question about Melissa and if he was her everything, unsettled him as he frowned his way back into the guest room.

#

Before Sebastian’s mom had come into the breakfast room, Melissa had been pretty sure he was going to bend her over the table. Now, back in the privacy of their guest house, Sebastian looked like fucking was the last thing he wanted to do. Twice she had to offer him the sandwich she’d hastily put together out of the medley of breakfast food in Rion’s kitchen, and after the second time she waved a plate under his face she knew something was wrong. His mother in the scant four minutes they’d spent outside together, had gotten inside of his head.

“What did she say?” she asked, trying and failing to keep the accusation from her voice. Cristina’s visit had unsettled her, but she would be damned if she wasn’t going to shine at whatever luncheon or test his mother put to her.

“Hmm? Nothing, I was just thinking,” Sebastian said, still not eating as they sat at the round table in their much smaller kitchen. He looked past her, out the window that overlooked the shimmering turquoise pool, filled with heated saltwater and ready for Ted’s morning exercise once the nanny had the kids in hand. He’d asked her if it would be okay for him to continue his swimming with them there, and Melissa assured him they wouldn’t even notice the half hour of use the pool got.

“Why do you like me?” he asked, shaking Melissa from her inspection of the fruit she’d put on her tray in an attempt to make it look like she wasn’t going to eat an all bacon and cheese toast breakfast.

“What do you mean?” she asked carefully.

“Why do you like me? I guess, in the beginning, when you came to the party last year, you had no reason to like me. But you flirted with me then, asked me to kiss you, even though you’d never even casually flirted with me in the classes we had together. I wanted to kiss you that night, so badly, but I didn’t want to be used and then never see you again.”

“Oh,” she said, setting down her bacon. She thought better of it and popped it in her mouth and then chewed thoughtfully. “You’re very handsome. I mean I guess I have to say that first, because I did notice, but I was dating someone else at the time so I couldn’t tell you.”

He cracked a wry grin and said, “I’m glad you think so.”

“Well, yeah, but there was more to it, although the stubble was working for you. Do you remember that project we had to present for Professor Bernhardt’s class? The one we had to dress up for?” When he nodded, she went on. “Everything I wore to the presentation was secondhand except for my underwear and tights. I didn’t own a suit of any kind, nothing to wear to a respectable business. I found the suit dress but it had no blazer, so Mother found me that white one and gave it new buttons and I sewed on the navy trim to match the dress. Even my shoes were from a consignment shop. My ex told me that morning before my presentation that I looked like a _‘hobo librarian.’"_

Sebastian made an angry noise in the back of his throat at her recollection, but she held up a hand to forestall whatever he might have wanted to say. “I was never good at public speaking, but you are. You’d been coaching us the last time we met as a group. When I got there that morning I hadn’t really slept, I thought it was obvious my clothes weren’t mine, and you know how our group was, some of our members hadn’t really pulled their weight, and I was so fucking nervous, I always am when a grade is on the line. But we were all stuck in together, and we were sitting there waiting to be called into the presentation hall when you turned to me and said, ‘You belong on the other side of the room already, with the professors.’ and I never forgot that compliment. It was just what I needed to hear in that moment. And then at the party, you didn’t kiss me. You didn’t give me what I wanted, you knew better, had better intuition than I did. That’s your gift, Sebastian, you spend your kindness so easily you forget that not everyone has the same ability.”

He didn’t look at her, couldn’t, but Melissa went on. “You knew what Bela needed when Luis died. She trusted you before she even trusted herself with that money. My mother calls you more than she calls me, and when we do talk, all she speaks about is you. Bethany and I call you her favorite child. KSE thrives under your leadership, and don’t you dare say it’s a group effort. You’re so kind and generous with yourself that you don’t see how rare that is. And honestly, being here in Starkhaven, I am shocked that everything good and gentle and caring wasn’t ground out of you here because this isn’t a world that nurtures that sort of personality.”

Melissa let herself take a few more bites of food and then added in a more thoughtful voice, “I think your mother has a hard time because she was once like you, and Starkhaven took the softness from her. I don’t know if she resents you or wants to protect you, but she seems lost.”

“Lost?” he asked, jerking his head up to look at her from across the table. While she’d spoken, he’d been watching her, listening. When she’d stopped to eat, so had he, but now Sebastian’s piercing attention was back on her again. “Maybe. I’ve never thought of her like that.”

“There are plenty of other reasons I love you, Sebastian, just you. You’re funny and sarcastic, and intelligent. You make me smile every day. Your ass looks great in a suit, which I get to see soon because of this luncheon. But it was always your kindness that drew me in, before I’d ever seen you in a suit.” Melissa smiled at him over the top of her tea. “But you did look impressive at that presentation. That was the first time I thought, ‘Maker, he’s fine.’”

Sebastian let out a loud laugh at that, and Melissa finally felt the tension drain from her limbs, fingers loosening around her drink. She grinned back at him, and suddenly wished they had no place to go today, no definite plans, but Starkhaven wasn’t a vacation at all. Last night he’d said he wanted to go home, and until he voiced it, Melissa hadn’t realized that she hated this place. She hated it and what it did to the both of them, but especially him. Sebastian wasn’t watching her as he inhaled more food, but his eyes looked sad and confused, and his smile didn’t come as easy here. He ate about fifteen grapes in the space of a minute before he asked, “We matched that day when we did our presentation, do you remember?”

“Did we?” she asked, startled. She hadn’t remembered or didn’t notice on the day of, but he had. It made a tiny piece of her heart melt as he recounted it.

“Yes, you had on the navy and white dress and jacket and I had on a pin striped navy suit. It was a morning presentation and I’ve always liked navy or grey for the daytime, though a tan suit can work well at times,” he said.

“Oh, but of course,” Melissa agreed and giggled as she cornered the rest of the grapes. She knew nothing about suits or men’s fashion, but Sebastian took his appearance very seriously. He wasn’t the kind to be stuck on clothes or brands, but he wanted to look a certain way, to present himself in the best possible light. Plus, she knew that he really did feel more comfortable in suits than just about anything else, and he’d naturally formed preferences and opinions on them, it was simply odd that he’d remembered that much about his clothes from years ago on a day that hadn’t really mattered that much.

“We should do that again today,” he said, bringing her back to the present. She realized belatedly, that he was still on clothes when he added, “let Starkhaven see us truly together. That’s what this is, in case you hadn’t realized. My mom has given us a debut.”

Melissa digested that statement as she swept up the last of her food. Before Sebastian had come back to their room, she’d looked up pictures from the event and had an idea of what to expect. She stood, stretching her limbs with a pop of her elbow, and went to look for something to wear. There would be something, after she’d gone shopping yesterday and the clothes Sebastian’s mother had tailored for her on their first night. Truthfully, she was leaning towards the latter type of dress, just because it was lunch with a lot of society people in the middle of the day. No doubt there would be plenty of other people there as well, but Her Highness had insisted they sit with her, and Melissa could just think of the guests that would flank them at her table.


	7. Chapter 7

So she might have been wrong about the luncheon, because this was actually fun, expected as the last-minute invitation was, this was an enjoyable event. Melissa had been starting to have doubts that she would like anything in Starkhaven. Her texts had been flying for the past few nights, between her, Bethany, Isabela, Varric and oddly enough, her mother, who’d realized that Melissa didn’t want to talk and be overheard. Mother was rubbish at texting most of the time. She once accidentally started a video chat that called Melissa, panicked and shut the phone off completely so the call didn’t connect. Technology, especially her new phone, wasn’t Leandra’s strong suit.

This luncheon was more like a shopping party with complimentary hair and makeup at the outset, leading up to the actual meal and presentation. When they’d walked in, she’d caught the whiff of hairspray and heard the talk of many voices as people milled around the reception room. Everyone was wearing red, so she was glad that she and Sebastian had decided to match with the color. In his charcoal grey suit and red tie and her red and black dress, they fit the theme of the day. Cristina was nowhere to be found, though they’d been told when they arrived that she was in the dining room and expected to see them at the meal, but until that happened they were free to explore.

“What do those signs say?” she asked as they slowly walked through the giant room of vendors, shoppers and gawkers. She couldn’t read the signs from her vantage point, but they were standing off to the side of the room, near one of the large windows. The hotel where this event was held was a modern one made to look vintage, so it had beautiful arched windows from floor to ceiling that spanned the length of the room on one side, letting in northern light and casting the room in a dreamy soft, natural light.

“In the middle of the tables? They’re probably for the silent auction,” Sebastian said. They strolled over to one and took a look at it, and Sebastian was proved correct.

“You bid here,” he said, pointing to a tablet that was labeled with a number. It corresponded to the numbers on the signs, which were, as he’d predicted, listings for the items in the auction. There were about sixteen items up for auction, all experiences. See a professional football team at a home game and meet the players or a romantic weekend getaway for two in Antiva. The romantic getaway made her long for her own aborted trip to Rivain, but also made her think unexpectedly of Aveline. Aveline and her guardsman Donnic had just started dating, but things were serious. They’d taken their own getaway a couple of weeks after the new year.

“We should bid on one,” Melissa said, but Sebastian chuckled.

“We don’t need to win a vacation, we need to actually be able to go on one,” he said and she reluctantly huffed out a laugh. He was right, being here wasn’t a vacation, but they needed the time more than they needed to win the chance to stay for free.

She let the thought pass her without further comment, but did enjoy looking around the shopping gallery. His hand stayed on her lower back as he guided her around, and Melissa was conscious of the looks they got. Sebastian must have noticed them too, they were stopped a fair few times by curious “friends” and people that wanted to talk to both of them. There were a few people that even tried flirting with Sebastian, but his disinterest was evident by his lack of response and how quickly he turned his attention back to her when the eyelashes started batting in his direction. She pretended not to notice how often the photographers focused on her and Sebastian, how when she looked up the barrel of a lens was aimed right at her more often than not. Her reactions and how often she spoke were being monitored in a way that made Melissa’s anxiety tick up a notch with every click of a shutter.

Sebastian kept close to her, but she wasn’t entirely sure if that was because they were sticking together, or he was trying to ease her distress. What had started as an entertaining distraction until lunch started to drag on, the amusement bled out of it by the intense scrutiny they were suffering. They saw Cristina only once while the shopping event was going on, she was bustling about between the dining room and an antechamber, and Sebastian watched his mother pass with a confused look but didn’t try to approach her. Melissa got the feeling he didn’t know what to make of her last-minute invitation and visit this morning, so she spoke up.

“She wanted our support. Yours specifically, but mine too since I’m here with you.”

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked. His question sounded almost normal, but he turned his head too fast to face her and betrayed his anxiety. She put a hand on his arm, though she was no more calm than he was at the moment. Leandra had warned her about this life when she’d first started dating Sebastian Vael, a prince of Starkhaven. He was the man who currently held her heart and was breaking it with his determined look of nonchalance that didn’t stray from the door his mother had disappeared behind. Melissa made herself give him a calm smile as she started to explain in an undertone only he could hear.

“Your mother. She needed allies here today. Her husband’s heir just had a heart attack and she’s part of a heart health awareness event. This must be excruciating for her, for a variety of reasons. The lateness of her invitation makes me think she probably wasn’t going to show up before, because of Graham, but changed her mind.”

Sebastian didn’t say anything, but leaned in to give her a swift peck on the cheek in thanks. A tension that made his shoulder stiff started to ease, and she gave him her hand once more. “We should buy something, since it’s a charitable donation and supporting the local artists,” he said, finally starting to understand their presence here. He was usually quick to comprehension, but Starkhaven was doing a number on his confidence and it was having an knock-on effect with everything else. Doubt tended to be merciless like that, eroding even where it shouldn’t tread, eating away where certainty normally lived.

After another quick tour of the shopping tables, the doors opened on the luncheon. This was the part she’d been most curious about, how to stage this production but it was somewhat standard. There was a Master of Ceremonies for the event, a local newswoman that had endured her own heart scare. The Princess invited her to the stage and thanked her committee for their support. Here Cristina interjected a few words about Graham, noting that the Crown Prince was mending well and looking forward to joining them all here next year, and then she was sashaying off the stage and back to their table. It was only when Sebastian took his mother’s hand did Cristina manage a real smile.

The grey head of a woman inclined towards Sebastian, and Cristina mouthed across the table, “My son, Prince Sebastian,” as Sebastian flashed a brilliant smile at the woman. Maker help her, that woman blushed and she couldn’t have been a day younger than eighty. The lady seated next to her gave a soft sigh when he’d smiled, as if he’d done something incredible. The same old woman took a break in the speakers to whisper across a question, to which Cristina answered, “In school now, close to graduating. He’s an engineer. Wonderful grades on his midterms.” Which made Melissa need to stifle a giggle. Midterm grades had been posted, but only just, and it was a little strange that his mother, with all she’d had to do in the past week, had remembered to look at them. Maybe one of her assistants had an alert to remind them.

As they ate the heart healthy lunch meal of an elaborate green salad followed by butternut squash and tumeric soup, with a main course of baked fish and a heaping side of roasted vegetables, presenters came up to talk. Women talked of their experiences with heart disease and strokes, all of them survivors or advocates. It was a beautiful ceremony, people all in red and giving speeches that was as eloquent as they were honest.

A few times Melissa felt tears rise in her eyes, especially as she watched a thirty year old woman, just five years her senior, talk about how she’d assumed she was healthy because of her lifestyle as an avid runner, but was taken by surprise as she’d lost her ability to catch her breath one day and found out she’d need bypass surgery. Genetics had dealt her a raw hand, but she was dedicated to educated women about heart disease, that it didn’t feel the same for women and the symptoms felt different. As the woman listed the ways she worked to prevent her own heart disease from recurring, Melissa was stirred. She wanted to message her mother and Bethany, hell, even Carver, and tell them all to take care of themselves better. The Heart Society had a given them all small red books of recipes in the gift bags that sat at the tables when they came in, and she meant to use it. During the break her phone vibrated in her bag, and she slipped it out to look at it.

Sebastian squeezed her knee under the table and she looked up from her phone. He was on her right, his mother a seat over from him, and she could only see half of Cristina’s face. Her lunch was practically untouched as Her Highness watched the presenters, and though she didn’t show a trace of it, her mind was on Graham. Melissa felt a faint stirring of sympathy for Cristina and Graham, though she had yet to even meet the Crown Prince. Sebastian’s family was a puzzlebox of people and grudges and past hurts, but so were most others, they just didn’t happen to rule a small principality in the Free Marches.

The event wrapped up with an appeal for donations, and a credit card reader was brought around to each table by helpful volunteers dressed in red. It was a quick thing, this luncheon, but it was effective. Balloons were handed out when a table reached an amount over ten thousand sovereigns, and Cristina made sure theirs was first to do so with her own generous donation. Sebastian leaned towards her and whispered, “Shall we do one donation or two?”

“Two,” she replied, and retrieved her own credit card. She known this was coming after she’d looked up the luncheon online, and though five hundred sovereigns on credit would hurt, she knew what it would look like if she did less too. Her bank account could take it, for once, though she knew if she asked, Sebastian would give her the money back. If she and Sebastian was engaged or married, one donation would suffice, but right now they were just dating. She couldn’t permit him to donate on her behalf, even if it would be an amount bigger than she could manage on her own.

Cristina watched with eagle-eyed interest Melissa as she pulled out a credit card in her own name and made a donation, then as Sebastian did the same. His amount was three times hers, so together they’d donated about two thousand sovereigns, which wasn’t bad at all. Cristina was smiling when Sebastian finished, but Melissa didn’t even bother to pretend it was aimed at her.

“You make me proud, Sebastian,” his mother said, standing up so she could give him a fond kiss on the table of his head. It was the only way she could manage it, with him still seated at the table.

“It was a moving luncheon, mama. I’m sure Graham will be delighted to come next year.”

“You should as well. After you’ve graduated, there’s nothing to stop you coming here and spending some more time,” his mother said, a hand still resting on his shoulder.

“Perhaps we will. It’s not something I’d considered before, to be honest, but a trip here when Graham is well should be in order,” Sebastian said diplomatically, but Melissa could hear the reluctance within his words. Cristina was excluding her, but Sebastian wasn’t, and they were having a small, silent battle over her right behind their smiles and fond words. It made her wish, well, she wished a lot of things were different but she said nothing as Sebastian and his mother played chicken, but kept her phone clutched in her hand.

“Lady Melissa is always welcome in Starkhaven. Perhaps we’ll have time to shop together on your next trip, dear,” Cristina said, finally acknowledging her as she capitulated to Sebastian’s imploring eyes.

“That would be lovely, Your Highness” Melissa murmured, making sure she promised Cristina nothing. Instead she rose from the table, and when she did, so came Sebastian. His mother took a step back, almost turning to go, but then stopped a passing photographer.

“Take one of us, please,” she asked, and Melissa was surprised to find herself included in that ‘us’. With Sebastian in the middle, wedged between them, they smiled for the camera.

#

After the Heart Society lunch, they went back to Rion’s to change and then on to visit Graham. His brother was still in the hospital, though Graham was very much on the mend. He would have to be, Sebastian was certain that their father was demanding the highest level of care, that no expense was to be spared for Graham's recovery. Sebastian was pleased, both that his brother was recovering and that he'd been there for it. He'd been allowed to come back to be with him. He looked better as he sat in his hospital bed, upright but propped up with pillows, but the tired red rings around Graham's eyes concerned Sebastian. Graham was happy, tired but determined to do better, and bored with the slow state of his recovery.

Graham also had expressed a desire to meet Melissa, since he hadn’t been able to do so before and their week was slowly wearing on. Sebastian forgave his brother the curiosity, but he did ask if she wanted to meet him before dragging her in there. Her answer was an enthusiastic yes, so he supposed there was some interest on both sides. Graham wasn’t dressed, but his hair was brushed neatly and someone, probably Helene, had helped him shave.

"I try not to stream any shows during the day, when people can visit. It's in the evenings and at night when it gets really boring and I feel like watching a whole season of something all at once. I've caught up on a lot of stuff," Graham said.

"I can understand that," Sebastian answered, grinning at his brother. “Graham, this is Lady Melissa. Melissa, this is my brother, Graham.”

"Lady Melissa," Graham began, but Melissa waved a hand at him as if she were trying to vanish her title from the air.

"It's been so strange to keep hearing that in Starkhaven, I hardly realize that people mean me when they say it. Please, just call me Melissa."

Graham smiled. "Melissa. It would just be ridiculous to stand on ceremony while I'm currently resting in such a state with the nurses coming in to prod my tubes and various naked parts hanging out, so please call me Graham."

She laughed at the explanation, but accepted it. Both she and Graham took a moment to study each other, and while Melissa gave a polite smile, his brother's grin slid off his face. They’d changed out of their formal luncheon outfits, and while she looked beautiful, they were both more casual now. Her makeup had been washed away except for lipstick, and he’d gotten back into his sweatpants. Sebastian had no idea what his brother was thinking as he looked at her, or why his expression had turned so grim after his greeting, but he was still staring at Melissa. Graham was concentrating on her so intently that he didn't notice when her smile faltered. Sebastian did, and he cleared his throat.

"How are you doing, Graham?" he asked.

"Forgive me, Sebastian, Melissa. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm fine, fine, as much as I can be," Graham answered. "You're an Amell, but you don’t look like one. You have a great lot of distant cousins in your line. Quite a few mages."

"My name's Hawke," Melissa answered, and her tone was assertive but not unkind.

"But you are part of House Amell. Your mother is head of it, is she not?"

"I think with it passing into genteel poverty and titular part only recently reinstated that it can be said more accurately to belong to me, than I belonging to it," Melissa countered, making Sebastian laugh.

"Yes, we know about your family situation. Forgive me for bringing it up, but Father thought that you," he motioned at Sebastian at this point, "might not know about it."

"Melissa had two jobs when I met her. When it became something she wanted to share with me more in depth, she told me. Otherwise, it wasn't my business, but I have stayed at her home and dined on the hospitality of the Lady Amell, Leandra. I found nothing lacking," Sebastian said, ready to take down Graham's snobbery, even if he was in the hospital recovering.

"I'm sorry, Maker knows I didn't mean to raise your hackles. Listen, I need to talk to both of you. I decided, it should be both of you."

"Decided what?" Sebastian asked.

"There's been so much going on before this," he said, waving a hand from his chest downward to indicate himself. "I know you can see how different things are."

"It's true," Sebastian conceded. "Starkhaven has changed a great deal in four years, as have things with the family. I had no idea that Rion was so uninvolved in the business these days until he came to Kirkwall. Then he told me that you all barely knew what happened to me."

"I'll get to that," Graham told them. "But first you should know that Helene's last round of IVF failed."

"I'm so sorry," Melissa said, the words coming out automatically. Sebastian echoed her sentiment, feeling a pang of loss for Graham and Helene.

"I am too," Graham said heavily. His tone contained a world of sorrow in it; Sebastian heard it and his heart ached for his brother. They’d never been close enough to share their thoughts or plans for the future, Sebastian had just assumed his brother would have children. Graham was the heir, it was what was expected of him. This man here in the hospital bed was little more than a stranger that had watched him grow up, but Sebastian was learning to accept more than just kinship with his brothers over this strange imposed visit. "We are looking into surrogacy, but there is so much to do before we even find a surrogate, and I am not healthy. Helene has been trying to get me to exercise, because it helps fertility, but I never listened. I guess I should have."

"That aside, Sebastian, you should know that Father wanted you home ages ago. Though he's proud of what you've done at school, and believe me, we were all astonished when we found out, he thinks your place is here. It's Cristina that has been the main opposition to you coming back."

"What?" Sebastian asked. "Mom didn't want me to come home?"

"No," Graham said simply. "She didn't want you to come now, but Father overruled her. It might have been heavy-handed, he told me what he did with your flight, but he was trying to get things in motion before Cristina could oppose him."

"Look Sebastian, your mother, for whatever reason, has her own plans for you and they change like the weather. There were times she wanted you home, and others where she thought you better off in Orlais. Later, she said the only that could change you was the Chantry. She was angry you didn't become a Brother, but then she got you that car when you were on the Dean's List. She also pitched a fit in my office when your inheritance wasn't changed, though I have no idea how she wanted it changed. I don't know why she’s doing any of this, but I've asked her many times."

"She's very religious," he muttered, just to have something to say. His voice sounded strained to his own ears, and Lissa reached over to take his hand. Beads of sweat popped out on his brow and his stomach felt upended. Sebastian took a deep breath to settle himself as his brother went on.

"That she is. But this is where it concerns you and Melissa. Rion's kids are all adopted, and Father won't change the laws so they can have titles, let alone be in the line of succession. Helene and I can't conceive."

"Andraste," Melissa breathed, understanding. It took Sebastian a few seconds longer, and then when he started to grasp the meaning, Graham spoke again and clarified it.

"You see, you're the Vael that's going to provide the heir in Father's eyes, and that’s what’s brought him to your side. Cristina thinks that no matter what, it shouldn't be you. You weren’t going to bear the responsibility well, her words. She thought, well, we all did, that you’d have a bastard and have to claim it and then take it out of the line of succession, but nothing of that nature has ever happened. Cristina was worried in particular, because of that business with the professor and her husband, she was pregnant not long after. She told me she offered you money for a vasectomy but you wouldn't take it."

"That was mom?" he asked, thunderstruck. "I always got the impression that was from both of them."

"What? Sebastian what? But we’re going to have children, we talked about it. Why would they do that?" Melissa asked, distressed, and Sebastian realized he'd never told her.

"Because it's about control with both of them, it always is. Father is, well, he’s been muttering about abdication but not retiring. He wants to die at that desk in the bank. Anyway, Sebastian she's not at all pleased with this turn of events, the lack of a proper heir. Maybe she would be more disposed to like Melissa if I had a child, but I think not. If you are going to provide the heir, if that responsibility falls to you, she wants to choose the bloodlines, like a Tevinter or a racehorse."

"And my family has mage blood, for all that we are noble."

"They do," Graham said, and gave her a sad look. "I apologize if she's been horrible to you, but that's the reason behind it."

"No, she hasn't been. I did get the feeling she didn't like me overmuch, but she wasn't horrible."

"Not to your face," Graham said ominously. He lay back against the pillows, sighing. "Talk to Rion about it more. He semi-retired out of protest and he was battling with Cristina and Father about succession. He didn't want to make us more money if we weren't going to properly acknowledge his kids."

"I promised him I would, if I got the chance. Not succession, I don't know if I can get that actually signed into law, but titles, all of them, even if I have to make them up," Graham said. "It should have been theirs upon adoption, just as we had titles on birth."

"Graham," Sebastian started, but then stopped. He wasn't sure what to say.

"I'm sorry, both of you. This is ugly and it's only going to get worse."

"You know, I think I need some water," Melissa said getting up. She was upset, and Sebastian didn't blame her. Her movements were jerky, stiff as she left the room in a hurry.

Sebastian was already up and after her when he turned around in the doorway to speak to his brother. "Graham, thank you. Get some rest."

His brother laughed grimly and waved him away. "You shouldn't thank me for this, for taking years to tell you what you should have already known. Go. Make sure she isn't crying. Cristina can scent tears."

"Was it me? Did she get like this because of me?" Sebastian asked. It hurt his heart to consider it, but he had to.

"No, Sebastian, it honestly wasn't you. She has little power and likes to wield it when she can, she always has. You were just too...distracted to notice before. Plus, she does love you, I imagine she wasn't going to give you the worst of it as a child."

"I'll come back to see you tomorrow if I can," Sebastian promised, and Graham nodded as he closed his eyes. When Sebastian looked back at the bed, his brother looked to be heading towards sleep already, tired out from their conversation.

Sebastian left the room, too many thoughts spinning in his head as he set out to find Melissa. He took a moment in the cold, white hallway to center himself. He couldn’t talk to her if he was upset, and when he held out his hand, it shook. That would never do. He let his breath grow deep naturally as he leaned against a wall for support, trying to stay out of the way of the busy nurses and techs bustling by him. It took him a few minutes to calm himself, even if his head was no clearer for the time to think, but he started down the hall intent on finding Melissa. A nurse in scrubs stopped him before he got too far, calling out “Your Highness!” to get his attention.

“The Lady Melissa requested a private room to conduct business and asked that you meet her there. It’s just down this hall,” the man said, and led him into a quiet hallway past a few darkened doors. When he came to the third one, a light was on behind the wooden door. He knocked and then stepped back. When the door opened, he made sure they needed nothing else, then departed, leaving them alone. She was propped against the edge of the desk, her phone in her hand and not a single bottle of water in sight. There was something about seeing her that calmed his heart, kept him was starting to yell about his fucked up life and slamming the door shut behind him.

“This isn’t water,” Sebastian observed, earning a wry smile from Melissa. “I wonder what they use these rooms for.”

“For guests. It’s obvious people like your father or mother would need someplace to work or take a private call while they are here, and we’re out of the heart wing. These are probably private general use rooms for guests to do business for a short time while they’re here.”

“Why are we here?” he asked, and Melissa looked at him and gave a gusty sigh. She pushed herself up to sit on the top of the desk, scooting to settle herself. As pretty as she’d looked earlier in her red dress, she looked more herself now, comfortable in dark jeans and a sweater, with her hair straightened into a black curtain of silk that fell down her shoulders as she checked her phone once more before looking up at him.

“Because I needed to talk to Rodric, but I can’t get through to him.”

“You called my father?” Sebastian asked, surprise making the end of his question come out at almost a squeak. He composed himself and went on, “What were you going to say?”

“The same thing I’ve been texting his assistant about all day. We’re going home tomorrow evening. The flight is all set. If you want to come.”

Sebastian was floored that she’d decided to leave. He knew at the Heart Society lunch that she’d been talking to someone, but he’d assumed that it was her mother or Bela or something. When she mentioned his father, he’d thought that she’d come here to argue with his father or maybe figure something out, but she just wanted to leave. It wasn’t that far into the week, they’d left on Saturday morning. It was Tuesday, and realizing that staggered him. One more day would mean their break would be mostly over by the time they got back to Kirkwall.

“I’m not abandoning you,” she said, correctly reading his silence. “But I thought you’d want to choice whether to stay or go. It’s up to you, but _ha_ ,” she blew out an angry laugh and finished with, “but Maker, fuck your family.”

“What?” Sebastian asked stupidly. He wasn’t following her, but he’d felt dulled ever since they’d gotten here. Now she sounded angry, and he wasn’t really sure why, except that it was probably his fault.

“ _Fuck_ your family, Sebastian. They’re a bunch of scheming bastards. Maker, I thought Gamlen was bad. I would rather have his criminal stupidity any day. Your mom is the only person you ever wanted me to meet, the only one you ever talked about besides your father. The last time I heard you talking to Graham you were cursing him to the Void and back, but now he wants to warn you about Cristina? Rion shows up out of the blue to reconnect right when he needs people to support him and his kids? What a coincidence! Ted’s as assertive as wallpaper and Helene wants to fight you instead of her husband, who she should be mad at. Nah, fuck them. Fuck them all. Your mom’s a bitch, but at least she’s been honest about not liking me.”

Melissa was angry, well and truly mad, he realized. She was so calm most of the time, and when she wasn’t her main emotion was worried. She worried about people so often and took care of everyone else, that it was disconcerting to see her furious. The last time she’d been this mad was with Wall-Eyed Sam trying to evict her mother, and then she’d been protecting someone. Then it clicked for him, falling into place like pieces in a puzzle. She was protecting him, and his family had made her very angry, but somehow the situation, all of it, had escaped him until just that moment.

He started to laugh, and after a moment, so did she. She was right, about everything. Fuck his family. His shoulders shook uncontrollably with the force of his laughter, and the stress of this whole week started to fade from him. Tears rolled down Melissa’s face, and he realized that their hysterical laughter was a balm they both needed, so he didn’t try to check it, just let it die out on its own after he’d laughed enough to make his stomach muscles ache.

“Yes,” he said, laughter making the word faint. “Yeah. Let’s go home tomorrow. I’ll make sure to say bye to Rion’s kids and Graham, but my mom is leaving anyway. I said my goodbyes to her this afternoon. She’s probably the reason we can’t leave until tomorrow evening, she tends to fly in the mornings.”

“Thank the Maker. I thought I was going to have to leave you in this cesspit of a city with those absolute weirdos you’re related to causing you more grief.”

“Did you want to talk about what Graham was saying? About our kids?”

“No, not really. I’m sure by the time we get around to having kids and getting married, there will be some new complication or they will have managed to have a child or something that will make his cryptic warnings completely irrelevant. I’m not a Vael, so I officially don’t have to care yet.”

Despite himself, he laughed again, getting a stitch in his side almost immediately from it. She was right, there would inevitably be something else. As far the warning about his mother, well, she wasn’t the same as he remembered, but this afternoon had put something right between them. As much as they’d disagreed and punished him and fought, Sebastian still knew his mother loved him. He didn’t even know if what Graham told him had any truth in it at all, but there was a lightness in knowing that they didn’t have to care about it, not now. He could go back to school, for the six weeks they had left and be with Melissa. Celebrate her birthday, get ready for graduation and moving in together, not waste his time worrying about Starkhaven drama from afar.

Her phone dinged and she looked at the message, then held it up to him. He took her phone, scrolling back through the conversation to see that she’d initiated it with his father’s assistant sometime the day before, after he’d sent her away to go shopping. She’d been funny and friendly to his assistant, remembering their name was Greg even when Sebastian couldn’t put a name to the face. Greg had relayed her questions to Rodric, and his father agreed there was nothing more they could be expected to do here. Since Graham was recovering, they could go on about their business. The last message was offering to take them to Rivain for the remainder of their time off. When he looked up at Melissa, her eyes were asking a question.

“It’s tempting, but I don’t think so. I hate to disappoint you, but I am tired of my family’s hospitality. Let me go home and sleep in my own bed and eat pizza for the rest of the week.”

“That sounds perfect to me,” she said, and took her phone back so she could decline the offer. He had to smile at her as she did. A day from now, they’d be back where they belonged, and Sebastian couldn’t wait.


End file.
